Saved by the Wolf
by Kohai Noticed You
Summary: Ruby Rose falls out of bed and it starts a butterfly effect that could possibly be the end of her team. When things go from bad to worse Ruby may find that the big bad wolf really isn't all that bad. In fact, he may be the only one who can save her. (*Hints of Bumblebee* *Monochrome* *Mainly Rosewick, Burnt Ice Cream, and Ozpin/Glynda*)
1. Part I

**Salutations! So this is just a little two-shot that popped into my head. This takes place sometime after Volume 2. This is my first time writing a RWBY fic so I hope I don't make anyone too OCC. I would also like to give a special thanks to my friend Luna Kitsune for reading over this before I published it. You're the best! Also! If enough people like this I may continue it, if not I'll leave it as is. Be sure to review!**

 **Please enjoy.**

* * *

 **Saved by the Wolf**

 **Part I**

 _"There is no inherent right or wrong in this world, those labels are just artificial constructs. Right and wrong are held by positions of authority. That is the way it's always been, so how then could anyone know this truth you speak of? Don't you see the reality is that truth long ago became nothing more than a shadow of itself; it's a mere echo of the past now... The world is one big moral gray area, it just makes you feel safer that it can be categorized into good and bad, but that's not how it actually works."_

~Professor Stein, _Soul Eater_

Everything that could go wrong, did.

There was no one else Ruby Rose could blame but herself. _She_ was the leader of team RWBY and a leader is given responsibility. _She_ was responsible for her team. _She_ was responsible for knowing her teams strengths and weaknesses. _She_ was responsible for the failure or success of the team. And if a leader fails their responsibility, the team will suffer as a result.

Maybe she should have went with Yang, or maybe she should have kept Yang from chasing after Neo all together. Perhaps her mistake was when she had Blake stay with Weiss to help deal with the White Fang members. Or maybe her mistake went farther back than that.

Doctor Oobleck once said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon half way around the world, so who is to say she didn't cause this by something as simple as tripping while getting out of bed this morning?

There was nothing she could do about that now though. No, she could only lay on the ground as she watched the feet of the wolf approach her.

 _Earlier that day..._

 _Thud!_

"Ruby! Get off me!" cried Weiss' shrill voice.

"Sorry, Weiss! I'm tangled in the blankets." Ruby quickly began trying to untangle herself from Weiss and her own blankets.

"Ugh! You're such a dolt!"

"I'm sorry, Weiss!"

Today was already starting badly. Ruby hadn't realized that the ropes holding her bed up had slightly loosened on one side, causing her bed to have a small tilt. So, when the huntress-in-training rolled over she rolled straight off the bed and on the heiress.

"If we miss breakfast you're going to pay, you insufferable brat!"

Ruby let out a squeak and worked faster to untangle them from the blankets. Perhaps she worked a little to fast because when finally got the blanket off of them her head hit Weiss right in the forehead, causing the Ice Queen to recoil and land flat on her back. Ruby quickly jumped up and put her hand over her mouth.

"Weiss! I am _so_ sorry! Are you okay?"

A frustrated growl came from the heiress as she rubbed her forehead.

"Oh, Weiss... do you need an ice pack?" Ruby bit her lower lip.

Weiss got herself off the ground and then looked at Ruby. If glares could kill Ruby would be dead ten times over. Ruby tried to shield herself from Weiss' death glare by turning her head to the side and putting her hands protectively in front of her face.

"Stop acting like a baby and get dressed! _I'm_ going to breakfast before Nora eats all the pancakes. Maybe if you're _lucky_ there will still be some for you. Humph." Weiss proceeded to march past the young huntress and to the cafeteria.

Once Weiss was gone Ruby sighed and picked up Zwei.

"Oh Zwei, Weiss will never be my friend if I keep messing up like this."

Zwei licked his owners face in response, causing Ruby to giggle. Zwei always knew how to cheer up the young huntress. As much as she loved Blake, Ruby was definitely a dog person. She loved cats too, of course. Maybe she was just a Zwei person.

"Well, I need to get dressed and head to breakfast. Today is pancake day so I'll need to try to get some before Nora eats them all. I'm sure she's already eaten all the syrup." she giggled.

Ruby sat Zwei down and changed into her signature black combat outfit with red trim. It was Saturday which meant she didn't need to wear her school uniform. She quickly brushed her hair and teeth (wouldn't want cavities!) and then gave a final salute to Zwei before using her semblance to run to the cafeteria.

 **~.~.~**

Upon entering the cafeteria she saw Nora had a stack of pancakes that was so high Ruby was sure the laws of physics didn't apply to it. Nora was shoveling the pancakes into her mouth so fast you'd think that she hadn't eaten in a month.

 _Please let their be pancakes left!_ Ruby silently thought to herself as she crossed her fingers.

"Hey, Ruby!" called the busty blonde huntress. "Over here! I snagged you some pancakes before Nora grabbed them all!"

"Yeah!" Ruby did a little fist pump in the air and skipped over to her teammates.

Yang was sitting on the end, facing the table team JNPR was at. Beside Yang was Blake, who had her nose buried in some new book. Across from Blake was Weiss who appeared to still be upset from this mornings fiasco.

"So, Ruby, what did you do to anger the Ice Queen this time?" Yang asked, rather amused.

"Hey!" Weiss whined indignantly.

"I-I didn't do anything!" Ruby put her hands in the air. "N-not... not on purpose anyways."

"Ugh! Ruby was careless and fell on top of me while trying to get out of bed!" Weiss explained.

"It was an accident! And... I said I was sorry!" Ruby said sheepishly.

"Sorry doesn't get rid of the knot on my forehead!" Weiss pointed to the rather larger and slightly purple bump on her forehead.

"I offered to get you an ice pack..." Ruby bit her lower lip.

"Weiss is already cold enough, Ruby." Yang laughed.

Weiss shot Yang a glare.

"Are you three done?" came Blake's monotone voice as she peered over her book.

Yang threw her arm around Blake's shoulder. Whether or not Blake cared Ruby didn't know because it was too hard to read Blake.

"Of course! Do you have some crazy adventure for us to go on?" Yang grin was so wide it made Ruby's face hurt a little just looking at it.

"No... I just want to finish my book in peace."

"Oh." Yang removed her arm from Blake just as Ruby sat down and started to eat her pancakes.

"Things sure have gotten boring around here now that Torchwick's locked away." Ruby sighed. "But at least we put away one of the bad guys."

"The White Fang hasn't been spotted recently either." Blake commented.

 _And there's still that one mysterious woman who I fought..._ Ruby bit her lip in thought.

"Well I, for one, am glad to finally have a break. We all should be." Weiss chimed in.

"I guess but I miss kicking butt! Hopefully I'll get to see that ice cream girl again so I can tell her where she can shove that umbrella of hers."

"I believe her name was Neo."

"Who cares, Weiss? She worked with Torchwick and looks like ice cream. Her name doesn't really matter so long as I get to kick her ass!"

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we could get to know those kids from Haven!" Ruby smiled.

"The girl with the green hair is Emerald, I think, and the one with gray hair is Mercury." Yang tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"What about the other one?" Ruby tilted her head to the side a little.

"I'm not sure. I don't really see her around too much." Yang shrugged.

"Mercury gives me a bad feeling." mumbled Blake.

"I think he's kinda cute!" Yang laughed.

Blake just rolled her eyes. "I'm being serious, Yang. Something doesn't seem right about him."

"You're just imagining things. Hey, Ruby, are you done eating yet?"

Ruby shoveled the last few bites of her pancake into her mouth. "Yemph!" Ruby replied with a mouth full of food.

"Disgusting! Don't talk with your mouth full!" Weiss wrinkled her nose.

Ruby swallowed her food. "Sorry."

"You know what? We should go shopping!" Yang propped her feet up on the table.

"Well... there are some new books I've been wanting to buy." Blake agreed.

"And I'm in need of some new school supplies." Weiss added as she crossed her arms.

"Ooh! Maybe I'll see some cool new weapons!" Ruby's eyes got a sort of dazed look in them.

Yang did a fist pump in the air. "Then it's settled! Lets go!"

 **~.~.~**

Team RWBY grabbed their weapons from their lockers and was just about to head out when they were suddenly stopped by the mysterious Haven students with green and gray hair.

"Hey! We were just looking for you guys." the gray-haired boy said with a cocky smirk.

Blake narrowed her eyes at the arrogant boy.

The green-haired girl elbowed him in the side. "We were just wondering if maybe you wanted to show us around Beacon. This school is rather large and we seem to keep getting lost."

Blake started to speak, "Actually we al-"

"We'd love to!" Yang interjected.

" _Great!"_ The gray-haired boy rolled his eyes, earning him a glare from the green-haired girl. Was it just Ruby or did everything he say sound sarcastic?

"I'm Emerald and this is my partner, Mercury." Emerald stuck her hand out.

"I told you I knew their names!" Yang bragged. Blake elbowed Yang, causing the blonde to blush a little. "I mean, I'm Yang! Nice to meet you!" She shook Emerald's hand.

"I'm Blake." Blake shook Emerald's hand as well.

"I'm Weiss." Weiss shook Emerald's hand next.

"And I'm Ruby!" Ruby exclaimed. "Uh... but I think we already met."

"Yes, you're the little girl who ran into us when we got lost." Mercury sneered.

"Uh..." Ruby started to blush and stared at her feet.

Emerald elbowed Mercury again. "Ignore him."

"Ow! That's really starting to hurt." Mercury glared at Emerald.

"Then stop acting like an ass!" Emerald barked back.

"Aw! They're so cute! Are you guys a couple?" Yang gushed.

Mercury smirked and threw an arm over Emerald's shoulder. "Only in her wet dreams."

Emerald made a face but Ruby noticed the slight blush on her face as she shoved Mercury off of her. "You wish! Now get off me you perv."

Mercury adjusted his clothes and kept smirking. "She wants me."

Weiss started to rub her head as if she was in pain. "Ah... you guys? I think I'm going to go to the nurse. This knot is really hurting."

"Do you want me to go with you, Weiss?" Ruby was starting to feel guilty again.

"No." Weiss snapped. "I'm perfectly fine on my own." Weiss spun around her heel and quickly walked away, heading towards the nurses office.

Blake once again narrowed her eyes Mercury. "Where is your other teammate?"

Mercury opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Emerald. "She isn't feeling too well so she's staying in bed."

"That's too bad. Well you guys wanted to be shown around, right? Well, c'mon! We'll be your personal tour guides! I hope you guys already had breakfast because Nora has already eaten all the pancakes. That girl is a monster when it comes pancakes and syrup." Yang laughed.

"She was the girl with the really large stack of pancakes then?" Emerald raised an eyebrow.

"Yep!" Ruby giggled. "That was Nora!"

"Interesting..." Emerald smiled.

"Not really." Mercury mumbled, which earned him another elbow to the ribs. "Ow! Will you stop that!"

"Stop being an ass then!" Emerald glared.

The bickering didn't seem to stop as even as team RBY showed Mercury and Emerald around. Emerald seemed genuinely interested in what Yang and Ruby were saying whereas Mercury would make some rude and sarcastic comment. Yang and Ruby didn't seem to mind though. Blake, however, stayed at the back of the group so she could watch Mercury a bit more closely. The rest of the team may not believe her but she knew something just wasn't right about this Mercury guy. He came off as a jerk with little to no smarts but Blake noticed how he took in every little detail of his surroundings as if he was calculating something.

Whatever Mercury was planning, Blake would find out.

 **~.~.~**

Team RBY and Mercury and Emerald walked around Beacon for about thirty minutes before they were interrupted by an announcement from Glynda Goodwitch.

 _"Attention. Attention students. All students need to report to the assembly hall immediately."_

"Hm, I wonder what's goin' on." Yang scratched her head.

"I wonder if it's about the upcoming tournament." Ruby suggested.

"Maybe, but we should probably get going." Emerald smiled softly.

Mercury just grunted in agreement and Blake merely nodded.

Yang tugged Ruby along, Blake following close behind. Once they entered the assembly hall they became separated from Mercury and Emerald but it was so crowded they didn't seem to notice.

The assembly hall was more crowded than usual since it was full of students from all over Remnant that were here for the tournament. The room was buzzing with whispers and excitement but Ruby felt tense, though she wasn't sure why. There really wasn't a reason for her to feel worried was there? Roman was locked up and there had been no sign of the White Fang recently. This _had_ to be for the tournament. There really wasn't another reason Goodwitch would have called them all here was there?

"Ahem." Glynda appeared on stage, Ozpin beside her. "Professor Ozpin has an important message for you all, so I suggest that you listen." Her glare was enough to silence the entire room.

The tension only seemed to thicken as Ozpin approached the microphone.

Ozpin cleared his throat and then began to speak. "Hello, students. I wish I could be talking to you under more pleasant terms. I am here to tell you that as of today the school will be on a forty-eight hour lock down."

The students started to protest and get loud but were quickly silenced by Goodwitch. "Hush, children." She narrowed her eyes at everyone.

"I know this maybe an inconvenience to some but I ask that you all cooperate. This is for your own safety. After the forty-eight hours things will return to normal." And with that Ozpin spun on his foot and walked off the stage.

The students began to yell and protest, wanting to know why they were being forced to stay inside Beacon. Ruby was also wondering what had happened. Was there an attack? What threat was so big that they had to keep a school full of warriors on lock down? Ruby looked around and found that Mercury and Emerald were gone.

"Yang, Blake, we need to find Weiss."

"Agreed." Blake's eyes seemed to darken a little.

Yang threw a fist up in the air. "I think we're gonna get to kick some ass!" Yang was actually worried about what was happening but didn't want to worry Ruby.

Yang grabbed Ruby's hand and followed Blake to the nurses office. When they entered the nurses office Weiss was already leaving. When she heard them enter she looked up at them.

"I assume our break is over now, huh?" Weiss sighed.

"So you heard the announcement, too?" Blake asked.

"Of course." Weiss said with a slight huff.

"Are you alright Weiss? Is your head any better?" Ruby bit her lower lip.

"I'm fine. Let's just go find Professor Ozpin and find out what's going on."

Ruby nodded. "Alright! Let's move out!"

 **~.~.~**

Yang kicked the door to Professor Ozpin's office open.

 _She always likes to make an entrance…_ Ruby inwardly sighed.

"Ah, team RWBY. I was expecting a visit from you." Ozpin said as calm as ever. He leaned back in his chair, sipping from his signature mug.

"Professor... why is the school on lock down?" Weiss asked. "What's happening?"

"Straight to the point?" he chuckled. "I'm sorry girls, I can't really talk about it."

Yang frowned. "I don't want to hear that bullshit! Tell us what's going on. Why are we on lock down?"

Blake narrowed her eyes. "Does it have to do with the White Fang?"

"Sir, please. We just want to help." Ruby said softly. "What could be so bad that a school full of huntresses and hunters is on lock down?"

"Well..." Ozpin sipped his coffee.

"Ozpin! You cannot seriously be considering telling them!" Glynda growled, entering the office, whip in hand.

"I do not see the harm in telling them." Ozpin said evenly.

"Ironwood is already out for your job. Do not anger him farther by giving out confidential information!" Glynda huffed.

"Well we can't help it if they overheard our conversation about how Torchwick broke out of out of jail." Ozpin said with a slight smirk.

"Ozpin!" Glynda hissed.

"Torchwick escaped?" Blake was absolutely livid.

"Perhaps." Ozpin answered.

"Ozpin! Stop talking at once!" Glynda was outraged. "They are only children!"

"Why is the school on lock down just for Torchwick? We kicked his ass once we can do it again!" Yang yelled.

"We may have reason to believe that there is someone working with Torchwick here in the school." Ozpin replied.

"Ozpin!"

"Glynda, do you really think we could keep team RWBY here if we wanted to? Knowledge is power, so why not equip them with what we have?"

"...fine." Glynda huffed. "Torchwick escaped about three weeks ago. Apparently he broke out with the help of some girl with pink and brown hair. This information was hidden from the public to prevent more scare. Since he has broken out there have been large shipments of Dust stolen and we have reason to believe it is Roman who has stolen this missing Dust."

"That still doesn't explain why the school needs to be on lock down. If our team can handle Torchwick, surely the other teams can as well." Weiss put a hand on her hip.

"Well, girls, there's a bit more to it than that." Ozpin sighed.

"You see, even while Torchwick was locked away there was still Dust being stolen. Torchwick would not give us any information on who he was working with." Glynda began.

Ruby could already imagine all the sarcastic responses he probably gave them.

"But it isn't just here in Vale that Dust is being stolen. It's being stolen all over Remnant. So much is being stolen that Dust will soon be in short supply." Glynda continued.

"That's ridiculous. I haven't heard anything about Dust being stolen. My father would have surely mentioned it."

Glynda grimaced. "General Ironwood has ordered all Dust companies keep the stolen Dust under wraps. His goal is to keep all the citizens calm. The Grimm incident put the people in a panic and we want to maintain peace as long as we can."

"But if Dust becomes hard to get won't the people notice? Especially with the upcoming tournament?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, yes. We are currently dealing with that." Ozpin sighed. "In fact," Ozpin turned his gaze to Weiss, "Your father has actually raised the prices on the Dust the company sells to limit the people buying it."

Weiss stayed silent and seemed to be in deep thought.

"This still doesn't explain how someone in the school would be working with Torchwick. Or why." Yang said, clearly frustrated.

"We cannot answer the why just yet and you need not concern yourself with the how." Ozpin replied calmly.

"What do you mean we don't need to concern ourselves with how? If someone here is going to betray us we need to be sure there really is a rat!" Yang stomped her foot.

"Miss Xiao Long, please calm down. There are somethings even I cannot discuss and I hope you will understand that. We have the school under lock down to prevent students for leaving. Doing such will keep whoever this rat is, as you called them, from leaving."

"And you expect us to just sit here?!" Yang screeched.

"Of course not." Ozpin laughed a little. "Glynda and I will take care of the problem here. While we are busy trying to calm the other students who is to say we will be able to notice if one of the teams happens to slip out."

"What exactly do you expect us to do if we leave here?" Blake asked.

"Well, there may or may not be a warehouse on the edge of Vale that will be receiving a large shipment of Dust. I'm sure you'll probably find something of interest there." Ozpin waved his free hand around.

"There is a map on the wall if you wish to find out what direction to go." Glynda sighed.

Ozpin stood. "Now, we must be going now. Do try to hurry, or I may notice you are leaving." Ozpin said with a gentle smile.

Glynda only shook her head. Together, Glynda and Ozpin, left the office.

Blake was already at the map, memorizing every part of it.

"Blake, are you going to be okay?" Ruby asked quietly, putting a hand on Blake's shoulder.

"I will be once we get Torchwick." Blake muttered.

Yang's eyes softened. "We'll get him Blake, don't worry."

"Yeah!" Ruby grinned. "Team RWBY will get Torchwick and all the other bad guys behind this!"

Blake muttered something too soft for them to hear but they were both to afraid to pry so they let it go.

"We should be going. Professor Ozpin said we didn't have much time." Weiss looked at the others. "We all have our weapons, right?" When everyone muttered their agreement Weiss nodded. "Alright, then I believe we should go."

"Agreed." Yang nodded.

 **~.~.~**

Team RWBY managed to slip out of Beacon unnoticed thanks to the help of Ozpin and Goodwitch. It took them a good hour to actually get over to the secluded warehouse. The outside appeared to be old and worn down with the paint slowly getting chipped away by mother nature. In big, white letters the word "Schnee" was painted across in all caps. A few of the windows were busted and ivy had gnarled its way through. It appeared as if no one had been here in decades.

Weiss had a frown on her face. "I don't think I've been to this warehouse before. Why would a shipment of Dust be coming here? It doesn't appear to have been used in ages."

Blake thought a moment before answering. " _That_ is probably why the Dust is being delivered here. If it hasn't been used in ages who suspect a large shipment of Dust to come here? If what we were told is true, they are probably trying to hide the Dust shipment as best as they can. Not many people would think to look here. It's old, insecure, and in the middle of nowhere. It's not necessarily a bad idea."

"Yeah, except Torchwick is a master thief." Ruby mumbled sadly.

"Well no one seems to be here right now." Yang said cheerfully. "Maybe we have nothing to worry about."

Blake shook her head. "I think we should stay hidden here. It's barely ten o'clock so my guess is is that the shipment hasn't been made."

"Blake is right," Ruby agreed. "We should stay here and wait for the delivery. Torchwick will most likely show up as it's being unloaded. If we stay hidden we will have the advantage of a sneak attack."

"Good thinkin', sis!" Yang wrapped her arm around the youngest huntress and ruffled her hair.

Ruby blushed and playfully swatted her sister away. "Stop it! You're embarrassing me!" she whined.

"Aw! How cute!" Yang giggled.

"Guys! If the goal is to stay hidden I suggest you both _shut up_ and stay down." Weiss hissed.

Yang rolled her eyes and crouched down behind the pushes with Blake and Weiss and was quickly followed by Ruby.

Blake turned to Weiss. "When do you think it will be delivered?"

Weiss turned her gaze to the ground. She felt so lost she wasn't sure what she thought anymore. Usually her father told her everything about the company. She was never left so in the dark like this. She prided herself in her knowledge of her family's company. "I... I don't know." she said quietly.

Blake just nodded and turned her gaze back to the warehouse.

Ruby put a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "It'll be okay, Weiss." she whispered.

For once Weiss didn't shrug off the young huntress - she was grateful for the comfort. "Thank you." she whispered.

* * *

 **Salutations! So this is the end of Saved by the Wolf part I. Originally, this was going to be a one-shot but the story alone, not including author's notes or the quote, was over 8,000 words. So, I split it into two parts.**


	2. Part II

**Saved by the Wolf**

 **Part II**

It was exactly four o'clock when the shipment arrived. The sky was starting to turn a light orange colour that Ruby usually found relaxing. Today it just made her stomach turn. If they had to fight in the dark it would be harder to beat Roman - only Blake would be able to see properly. Anytime Roman was even mentioned, however, Blake would become blind with hate, which, in Ruby's opinion, made her easier to be defeated. If you couldn't think clearly in a battle your opponent could outsmart you before you even realized it. The best solution was to either have someone watch Blake's back or somehow keep her away from Roman. She may have gotten lucky once or twice but even her luck had to run out sometime.

Ruby watched as the workers began to unload the Dust from the heavily armoured trucks. There were tons of guards watching over the entire process - all whom appeared to be Faunus. This went on for several minutes before Ruby began to think something was wrong.

"Guys... this doesn't feel right. Torchwick should have already shown up by now, right?" Ruby whispered.

Blake nodded in agreement, her narrowed yellow eyes never leaving the warehouse. "You're right. Something is definitely off."

"I guess we could always just ask." suggested Yang.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's stupid."

Blake's frown suddenly grew as a few of the guards came into a closer view. They were a good distance away from the old warehouse now and appeared to be looking for something - or someone - and she could now clearly see them.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Yang asked.

"I know why Torchwick hasn't shown up. I recognize those three people. They're White Fang." Blake hissed. She remembered them alright. She was once in the White Fang with them. _I guess this is what the Schnee company gets for hiring Faunus labor, though._

"What?" Weiss' eyes widened.

"All of them?" Yang asked.

"It's possible. I can't really see the others since they're in the building."

"Blake, do you think you can knock them out before they can call for help?" Ruby asked.

Blake quickly looked at the top of the warehouse to make sure no one was looking down in this area and then looked at Ruby and nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sure they'll notice if these guards don't return so they'll send someone to come look for them, right? If more people come and they're White Fang too we take those people out too. Silently. After that I think we'll have a few more minutes before they realize something is very wrong. We can use that time to get a sneak attack!"

"But there could be innocent people in there!" Weiss frowned. "We can't just go in there and start shooting everyone!"

"We don't have a choice, Weiss. It's us or them." Blake hissed. _It's them or Torchwick..._

"Those people could work for my father!" Weiss narrowed argued.

"Guys we don't have much time..." Ruby bit her lower lip.

"Those people enslave Faunus! They're the reason the White Fang exists!" Blake was starting to get loud.

"Blake..." Yang tried to put a hand on Blake's shoulder to calm her but it was only shrugged off.

"What?" Weiss screeched. "It's not my family's fault that the Faunus are a bunch of low lives!"

Before Yang or Ruby could do anything Blake smacked Weiss across the face. "Shut up! You have no idea how much we've struggled! How much suffering we've been through!" Blake fully stood up.

Ruby's eyes widened and she grabbed her weapon off her back as her eyes darted to the guards. They had obviously been spotted and were now calling for back up as they pulled out their own weapons.

"Guys w-" Ruby was cut off by Weiss.

"Do you really think the Faunus are the only ones who have suffered?" Weiss stood as well, though she appeared to be a little unsteady. Ruby guessed it was because of the knot on her head.

"Guys!" Yang's hair caught fire and her eyes were red. "Get down!" She managed to tackle Weiss and Blake down just as a bullet was about to hit them. "We can work out our problems later! Right now we need to get our asses in gear before we die!"

 _So much for a surprise attack…_ Ruby thought sadly.

Team RWBY was quickly surrounded by the so-called "guards" in a matter of seconds.

"Put your weapons down!" One of them ordered.

"We're the good guys! We're from Beacon!" Ruby pleaded. Surely if they were on their side they'd be free to go.

This, however, did not seem to be the case. Instead, this only seemed to make them more willing to shoot because before Ruby realized it they were in an all out battle.

Ruby was doing a series of flips and attacks, using her speed to doge the enemies attacks. It wasn't until she had flung herself into the air that she saw Roman on the second floor of the warehouse through one of the windows. Everything seemed to slow down in that moment for Ruby. It was clear that they had made eye contact, even though there was still a good distance between them. She had clearly seen the smirk on his face as she started to come back down. There was no doubt that he was mocking her right now.

When she hit the ground she knocked away the "guards" around her.

 _They're not guards. They're White Fang._ Ruby reminded herself. She quickly looked over at Weiss. Weiss was clearly in pain but she was fighting through it. There was no way she could take Weiss to a fight that involved Roman. Blake was a negative as well. She was already too angry and knowing Roman was here would only make things worse. That only left Yang.

"We're breaking off into Black Ice and Red Sun!" Ruby yelled as she turned to Yang. Ruby didn't stop her attacks as she spoke. "Yang! We need to get in the warehouse!"

"Roger that!" Yang brought her fist down on the ground, knocking several of the White Fang members off their feet to help clear her and Ruby a path. Blake helped get rid of the remaining members that were blocking the way.

Yang and Ruby ran through the opening before they could be stopped. They managed to get into the warehouse through one of the broken windows.

Inside the warehouse was even creepier. The cement floor was covered in dust and dirt and littered with foot prints from where they had been unloading crates of Dust. The last bits of sunlight were shining through the windows. All sorts of rusty hooks were hanging from the ceiling. Old nails appeared to falling from different parts of the building as well. Ruby wondered how much damage this building could take before it collapsed.

Ruby found what she was looking for when she spotted a rusty stairwell that appeared to lead up to the second floor. That would be where Roman was waiting. The only thing in her way were a large amount of White Fang. If they took too long fighting these guys it would get dark and she had doubts that the lights worked here. They needed to get to Roman while there was still sun.

It wasn't like they would be completely helpless in the moonlight. Their eyes would adjust but in this building it would be darker than it was outside. Roman was a thief. He was use to the dark so he would have the upper hand.

"Yang we need to hurry and get to the second floor!" Ruby yelled.

"What's up there?" Yang asked as she started punching White Fang members.

"Torchwick."

Yang blinked a few times and her eyes were suddenly red again. Her punches became faster and more deadly. Yang now understood why they need to get up there - and why Ruby had brought her along.

Ruby shot at the guys in the back while Yang took care of the guys closer to the front. Yang was so close to the action that she was unable to avoid all the bullets, and the White Fang noticed this. The bullets seemed to nothing more than graze Yang but it was enough to break the skin and cause her to bleed, though her aura was healing her as fast as possible. Ruby shot faster and then quickly switched Crescent Rose into scythe form. She slammed it down into one of the cracks of the cement. She jumped on it while it was lodged into the ground and used it to a series of kicks and then launch herself at one of the White Fang members. She quickly yanked it out of the ground and swung it around, knocking out a good number of White Fang. Yang was doing a series of uppercuts and and jabs as she knocked her appoints down left and right. Bullets were flying everywhere.

They fought their way through until they managed to make it to the stairs. Yang ran ahead while Ruby covered them, firing at any of the White Fang that tried to follow them.

 _What the heck is going on? Is everyone here a member of the White Fang? If so why even bother to deliver the Dust at all?_ Ruby thought to herself as she ran up the stairs, occasionally turning around to shoot.

When they finally made it up the stairs Yang punched her way through the rotted wooden door and let Ruby in first. Once Ruby was in Yang stepped through the doorway and punched the rusty stairs. The impact was enough to cause the old stairs to collapse, completely stopping any of the White Fang from following them. They were up high so it would take a bit to climb and some of them were buried underneath rusty metal now anyways.

"Nice thinking, Yang!" Ruby smiled, slightly out of breath.

"Thanks. Now lets get moving before they figure out how to get up here. We have a torch to put out." Yang grinned.

Ruby snickered at the pun.

The two sisters quickly reloaded their weapons and then ran down the hall until they reached another rotted wooden door. Yang wasted no time punching through the old door. When the two sister entered the room Roman was calmly waiting for them. He had his signature smirk and was leaned against his cane as he smoked a cigar.

"Well, how nice to see you again, Red." Roman's smirk grew and he flicked his cigar to the ground, crushing it with his cane. "But isn't it past your bedtime?"

Ruby didn't have a chance to respond before Yang let out an angry growl and ran towards him, fist drawn back.

Just as her fist was about to make contact with Roman she was thrown backwards by a kick. Confused, Yang looked up to see a pair of brown and pink eyes staring back at her. Yang let out another growl and jumped up.

"It's you! I've been waiting for a rematch! This time I'm going to kick your ass!" Yang's hair was on fire now. She wasted no time in throwing a series of punches at the small, pink and brown coloured girl. The girl seemed to have no problem blocking or dogging Yang's attacks, however. In fact, she seemed almost bored.

Ruby wasted no time in going to aid her sister. Roman wasn't the biggest threat right now it seemed. Ruby used her speed to propel herself toward the girl. Just before Ruby made contact though, the girl stuck her heel out so it hit Ruby right in the stomach. Ruby fell back and skidded across the cement floor until she hit the wall. Her face had a few scrapes but her aura was quick to heal them. Ruby quickly jumped back up and joined her sister in fighting the small girl.

It didn't matter though. Nothing they did seemed to have any affect on the girl. She didn't even seem out of breath! Not to mention, Ruby was sure that her eyes were changing colours as if she was mocking them.

"Neo..." Roman sighed.

Neo glanced at Roman and gave a small nod. She quickly jumped over Yang and behind Ruby. Things seemed to slow down for Ruby as she heard Neo pull out her sword. Ruby knew what was coming and she barely had time to react. Neo lunged the sword forward just as Ruby started to move away. The sword didn't stab through Ruby like Neo was hoping but it did manage to give Ruby a rather large and deep cut under her armpit.

Ruby let out a cry of pain and rolled onto the floor, her weapon sliding away from her. Ruby was quick to cover the wound to try and stop the bleeding. Her aura would eventually help with the healing but it was too deep to heal right away.

"Ruby!" Yang seemed to completely forget about Neo and ran straight over to her little sister. "Are you okay? Where are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch it'll he-" Ruby stopped mid-sentence. "Yang! Look out!"

Yang turned around just as Neo was about to stab her with the sword. She just _barely_ able to roll away in time. When she looked up she saw a stray blonde hair falling to the ground.

"That's it! You're goin' down ice cream!" Yang's hair and fist were on fire and her eyes were red. She was serious now.

Neo just smiled at her with a hand on one hip.

Without warning Yang's fists were flying. Ruby carefully reached for her Crescent Rose and then examined her wound. Her dress was definitely ripped but at least her aura had stopped the bleeding, though she was still in a great amount of pain.

 _No. I have to get up. I gave to fight through the pain. Weiss is doing it so I can too! My team is counting on me!_ Ruby forced herself to stand and she could feel her adrenaline start pumping. Nothing was going to stop her.

"Ah, ah!" Roman tsked. "We can't have you using that over sized gardening tool while your hurt can we?" He lifted up his cane and fired at her left shoulder in hopes to make her drop the scythe.

Ruby managed to avoid the shot however. "You won't get away with this Torchwick! Bad guys never win!"

A frown formed on Roman's lips. "Do you really think this is some sort of fairy tail, Red?" He laughed coldly. "I think it's time you stop living in your fantasy land and grow up. You're playing with the big boys now!" His emerald eye grew dark.

"I'm plenty grown up! I drink milk!" Ruby said proudly.

Roman burst out into laughter. "You just made my day, Red. Really, you did." He lifted his cane up once more and fired more shots.

Ruby's heart was pounding in her chest - she almost felt lightheaded. The pain under her arm was gone - it felt numb. Her body started acting on it's own as she fought with Roman. She could no longer hear any of gunfire over the ringing in her ears. She _had_ to beat Roman. For Blake. For Weiss. For Yang. For all of Remnant.

Just as she was about to swing her scythe around Roman threw a red Dust crystal down just like when they had first met.

 _Oh no._ "Yang! Get down!" Ruby screamed.

Yang didn't think, she just acted. She threw herself away as far as possible. Ruby just barely managed to get away from the worst of the blast as Roman shot at the Dust. Debris flew everywhere and Ruby felt bits of metal and wood scrap against her, but it was nothing her aura couldn't fix. Her dress and leggings were ripped and shredded, however. Yang appeared to be fine.

There was now a hole in the wall opposite of the door Yang had knocked down. It revealed more of the second story of the warehouse. Outside of the hole was Neo, who was smirking down at Yang. As Yang got up Neo ran off, as if she was daring Yang to chase her.

"Ruby, will you be okay if I follow after her?" Yang turned to her younger sister as she got up and dusted herself off.

"Yeah. I can handle things here. Go. She might be going after Weiss and Blake!" Ruby nodded the direction Neo left.

Yang gave a nod and ran off after Neo.

"You don't look so good, Red. Are you sure you can handle me all by yourself?" Roman smirked. "You are only a little girl, after all."

Ruby glared at Roman. "Shut up! We captured you once we can do it again!" She readied her scythe.

"And I'll just escape again." Roman shrugged. "This really seems to be a waste of time for us both, don't you think?"

Ruby glanced at her scroll. Her aura was getting pretty low but she should be fine for now, even if the small adrenaline rush she had was wearing off now. She wasn't going to give into the pain.

"Shut up, Torchwick." Ruby growled. "Just give up already."

"Red, dear, have you looked at yourself? Your poor little dress and cape are tattered and you can barely stand. You are seriously not in the position to be giving _me_ orders." Roman walked over to her and Ruby tensed. He gripped her chin with with his index finger and thumb and forced her to look at him. His face was inches from hers. "If anyone is going to be giving orders it'll be me." His lips seemed to ghost across Ruby's.

A chill went up her spine and she shivered. Her heart sped up a little but she didn't exactly understand why.

Roman laughed and pulled away. "Aw, Red! You're blushing! You flatter me!"

Ruby soft growl. "My name is Ruby, not Red!"

"Ruby, Red," he waved his hand in the air. "It doesn't really matter to me." He lifted his cane up and pointed it at her again. "After all, I don't plan on letting you survive this little meeting." He smirked a little. "Wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea, would we?" Without another warning he began to fire.

Ruby tensed and began dogging and firing back. _I need more room to swing my scythe…_ Ruby glanced up. _The roof! Of course! I'll plenty of room up there! There are all ready holes all in the ceiling so it shouldn't be too hard to break, right?_ Ruby took a deep breath and used her semblance to propel herself upwards. Just like she thought the ceiling was easy enough to break through and her weapon took most of the damage.

The roof was flat and Ruby could see the small holes that littered the roof. She wasn't sure exactly how sturdy this roof was but hopefully it would last just long enough for her to kick Roman's butt. From up here she could see Weiss and Blake still fighting the White Fang. Weiss appeared to be struggling but she was still standing.

The last bit of the sun had just disappeared and the sky was beginning to grow dark.

 _I knew there was a lot of guards... but not this many. Maybe they called for backup?_ Ruby was starting to get a knot in her stomach again.

"Red! Are you running away from me? I thought we were having fun!" Roman chuckled as he climbed up the hole she had made.

Once he was up he looked over at Weiss and Blake. "Ah, so the Ice Queen and the Kitty are fighting together. The Ice Queen appears to be struggling a bit, though. I wonder how long she'll last. All of the guards are under White Fang control so they'll be at that for a while. Ah, well," he shrugged. "That just gives us more alone time, doesn't it?" He smirked, casually walking closer to Ruby.

Ruby started to back up, pointing Crescent Rose at him. "Stay back, Roman."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Oh? But it seems like we're on a first name basis now, _Ruby."_

Ruby blinked, slightly taken back by hearing him call her Ruby. It sent a feeling through her body that she didn't quite understand. _And... I just called him Roman... why did I do that? Wait. I need to focus. He's trying to distract me._ Ruby shook her head to clear her thoughts but Roman was already towering over her.

"What's the matter, Red? Are you scared of the big bad wolf?" he smirked.

Ruby grit her teeth and hit him with the back of her scythe, knocking him off his feet.

He let out an annoyed huff as he stood back up and dusted himself off. "You girls are always getting my suit dirty."

Ruby narrowed her eyes and watched him closely, her scythe reloaded and ready for action.

"No matter, I still have a job to finish and you're getting in the way." Roman started firing at Ruby once again.

In a matter of moments they were in a full out battle again. Both firing and doing melee attacks. Ruby was surprised that Crescent Rose couldn't just snap his stupid cane in half. The longer they battled though the more exhausted she began to feel. Her wound may not be bleeding anymore but it still hurt and no matter how much she tried to ignore the pain she just couldn't make it go away. It didn't help that Roman was able to land a few hits on her, making her aura drop even lower.

She really lost focus when she heard a shrill scream. It sent chills up Ruby's spine. She quickly jumped over Roman and got closer to the edge so she could see what had happened - and what she saw made her blood run cold.

Weiss had finally fallen and the White Fang were showing no mercy. Even from where Ruby was at she could see the blood. Blake was surrounded but obviously trying to get to her fallen teammate. Ruby tried to call out their names but had her breath knocked out of her when Roman came up from behind her and knocked her off her feet with his cane.

"It's really bad practice to lose focus like this in the middle of a battle, Red." Roman sighed, shaking his head. "I really s-" Whatever Roman was about to say was cut off by a loud explosion.

The explosion was loud enough to make the ground below them rumble. Ruby tried to stand but her legs felt like jelly. The next thing Ruby felt was a body on top of hers - almost like someone was trying to protect her.

 _H-huh? W-what's happening? Roman…_ Ruby couldn't seem to get her thoughts together. She tried to move her arm out to reach Crescent Rose but only felt the grip of the person on top of her tighten.

When things finally stopped moving Ruby felt the weight remove itself from her back. When she looked back up her vision was a little blurry and her ears were ringing but she still managed to stand.

"Still alive, Red?" She heard Roman's voice ask with a hint of worry.

 _Is... is he concerned about me? Did... did he just save me?_ Ruby rubbed her eyes until her vision cleared. The moon was full and high in the sky. All around them smoke covered the area, making it impossible for Ruby to see Weiss and Blake. _Where is Yang...?_

Suddenly the warehouse began to shake below their feet.

 _Oh no... it's going to fall._ Ruby looked at the ground below them. They were up pretty high and her aura was critical. If were to jump there was no doubt that she would break something. There was suddenly a smaller explosion from the building. _It's now or never!_

Ruby took a deep breath and jumped. Behind her she could have sworn she heard Roman curse and follow behind her.

Just as Roman jumped there was a large explosion from the building and it began to collapse.

Ruby felt her face hit gravel and slide against it until she was in the grass. Her body was in excruciating pain but at least she was alive, right?

 _Yang... Blake... Weiss... Where are you guys? Why is everything so quiet?_ Ruby opened her eyes to try and see where she was at but her vision was blurry. _Yang... please tell me you weren't still in the warehouse. Please... I can't lose you…_ Ruby felt tears began to fall down her cheeks. _Blake... you're so strong. Surely you got to Weiss in time and saved her._

Ruby heard footsteps approach her. She tried to move, to get away, but her body wasn't listening. She couldn't so much as lift her head up. All she could do was watch as the shoes came closer to her vision. _Those shoes... they... they belong to..._

"You always have to cause trouble for me, don't you, Red?" Roman sighed.

 _No! I need to get away! I need to move before he kills me!_ Ruby mustered up all the strength she could to try and inch away from him.

"Stop moving." he sighed. "You'll only make things worse."

Roman knelt down beside her. She couldn't see him but she heard him messing with some fabric. _What is he doing?_

As if the world was answering her she felt him press down on her leg and it felt as if a thousand needles were pressing into her skin. She let out a cry of pain.

"Hush..." Roman muttered.

"S-s-stop..." Ruby coughed. "H-hurts..."

Roman seemed to ignore her and kept pressing for what felt like ages before he finally tied something around her leg. He then moved over to her face and began picking out pieces of gravel.

"H-huh? W-why?" Every word she said seemed to make her body ache. She tried to get a good look at his face but her vision was still rather fuzzy. She was starting to fade from consciousness.

Roman seemed to think about this for a moment. "I guess I'm not such a big bad wolf after all, Red." he chuckled quietly. It's not like she would remember this anyways, so what was the harm in answering? She would soon be unconscious and this would just seem like nothing more than a dream.

"Crescent R-rose..." she coughed.

He moved it in her field of vision. "Your gardening tool is right here, Red."

"Y-yang...?"

This time there was no response.

"Roman!" came a new voice. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here, Perry!" Roman called, sounding slightly annoyed. He looked Ruby over one last time. He had done the best he could considering what he had. Why had he done it though? Why had he stopped to save this annoying little pest instead of just killing her while he had the chance. Roman sighed and without thinking stroked Ruby's face.

"It's past your bedtime, Red." he whispered.

That was the last thing Ruby heard before everything faded away.

* * *

 **Salutations!**

 **So that concludes Saved by the Wolf. I'm sorry if it was a little confusing, especially during the fight scenes. I'm not very good at writing those. Yes, the ending was meant to be left open like that so you can make your own guesses at what happened. If I happen to get enough feedback wanting more I may continue this story. If not, then I'll just leave it as it is.**

 **Once again, I'd like to give a special thanks to my friend, Luna Kitsune. She has been a big help in pointing out all my little mistakes that I carelessly miss. No, Luna Kitsune is not her fanfiction name so don't bother trying to find her.**

 **Yes, this is a Rosewick (Roman/Ruby) even though there wasn't too much interaction between the two of them. I hope it was still at least a little cute. *looks at Peeves for approval***


	3. The Aftermath Part I

**Salutations! Ebony reporting in with another chapter of Saved by the Wolf. I decided to just go ahead and continue this story. Please note, you can just read the first two chapters and be done with this story since it was originally a two-shot. If you want to keep reading, then feel free!**

* * *

 **The Aftermath**

 **Part I**

 _"Well, you know, in any novel you hope that the hero has someone to push back against, and villains - I find the most interesting villains those who do the right things for the wrong reasons, or the wrong things for the right reasons. Either one is interesting. I love the gray area between right and wrong."_

~Dan Brown

"Ruby! Ruby! Ruby, please! Please wake up!"

Ruby's eyes began to open.

"Ruby! You're alive!" Ruby could vaguely hear Yang's relieved voice.

 _Roman? No... Yang... Yang is alive!_ A groan came from Ruby's lips and her eyes slowly

 _Pain... everything hurts. Where are Blake and Weiss...?_ Ruby opened her mouth to speak but realized her throat was too dry for her to speak and started violently coughing.

"Shhh... don't strain yourself, sis." Yang whispered. "You have serious damage to your legs and arms so don't even think about trying to move."

"W-weiss..."

"Blake is with her right now, tending to her wounds. We just called Beacon and their sending a helicopter to come pick us up since I don't want to move you too much - but you aren't bleeding anywhere. Well, not anymore anyways. Your aura must have helped heal you. Just hang in there, sis." Yang began to stroke Ruby's hair.

 _They're alive at least... that's what matters. Where did Roman go...?_ Ruby closed her eyes again. This was just too much to think about right now - she just wanted the pain in her body to go away.

Ruby laid on the ground for what felt like hours while Yang stroked her hair and whispered calming things to here. At some point she heard the helicopter arrive and felt herself being lifted up and moved. She heard people around her talking but it all sounded like static at this point. She felt people attaching things to her, probably to check her vitals. When she opened her eyes all she could see was swirls of colours moving around her so she shut her eyes again and fell back asleep.

 **~.~.~**

"It's been three days! When is she suppose to wake up?"

"Miss Xiao Long, I have already told you that she may wake up at any time. Her aura is completely recharged and her wounds are healing up nicely but she needs rest."

"But if she hasn't woken up how do you know she's okay? How do you know she's not in pain?!"

Ruby let out a groan. "Yang?" she mumbled, still groggy.

"Ruby!" Yang shoved the nurse out of the way and was by Ruby's side. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

"H-huh?" Ruby blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision. Her head felt a little fuzzy and her body felt a little numb. _Am... am I back at Beacon? What happened...? Wait, didn't Yang say they were sending a helicopter?_

"Miss Xiao Long, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down and give Miss Rose some space." sighed a female.

"Will you just let me check on my sister?" Yang shot the woman a glare that could beat even Weiss'. "She's _my_ baby sister so I am responsible for her!"

Ruby gave a small smile, her cheeks heating up a little. "I'm okay, Yang. My head is a little fuzzy is all. What... what happened?"

"You were passed out when I found you. You... you looked like someone had thrown you around like a rag doll and I thought..." Yang swallowed and Ruby could see tears starting to form in her eyes. Yang was quick to wipe them away. "I'm just glad you're awake." She stroked the younger girl's hair.

Ruby went to reach out and hug her older sister but stopped when she realized her arm was in a sling. She blinked a few times and then frowned. "Did... did I break my arm?" She realized this was probably a dumb question since her arm was in a sling. How had she not noticed this before? _Probably because my head is still so fuzzy and my body feels kind of dumb._

"Yes," a new voice spoke.

Ruby turned her head to see who was talking.

On the other side of her was a woman no taller than Weiss, with light caramel coloured hair tied back into a ponytail with a blue headband. Her eyes were a crystal blue colour and she wore a light blue turtle neck sweater with a white skirt. Over that was a white lab coat that stopped at her mid thigh. Around her neck was a stethoscope.

"You broke your right arm and have a deep cut on your left leg - which we had to stitch up. You sprained your left ankle as well. You had other minor injuries but they have mostly healed thanks to your aura. Unfortunately, the cut on your leg may leave a scar." The woman's voice was caring and gentle.

"A scar never hurt anyone." Ruby shrugged a little. "Are... are you the schools nurse?"

"Yes. I am Miss Alyse." Alyce turned her head to Yang. "Now, I am going to ask you to leave once more. Now that Ruby is awake you have nothing to worry about. In fact, you should be getting to class."

Yang glared and let out a huff. "I already told you lady! Ruby is _my_ baby sister and I'm not leaving until I know she is one-hundred percent better."

Miss Alyse sighed and went back to looking at the screens that were monitoring Ruby's health. "Well, Miss Rose, you seem to be as healthy as you can be, given your state anyways. Your ankle will probably take a couple weeks to heal but your aura should speed up the healing process. You should take it easy until then and try not to put too much pressure onto your leg. I'll give you a brace to wear so you can walk around without doing anymore damage to your ankle. Take it off when you go to bed or when relaxing. Keep it elevated as well."

"Yes, ma'am. So does that mean I'm okay to leave now?" Ruby asked.

"I think it would be best if you stay here for a few more hours to make sure your head clears - and to make sure all of your vitals stay okay now that you're awake." Alyse gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry though, you'll be able to leave soon."

Ruby sighed. Miss Alyse was probably right but Ruby really just wanted to get out of bed and talk to Professor Ozpin. Had he found the traitor? What happened when things started exploding? How were Blake and Weiss?

 _Ugh... My head hurts,_ Ruby mentally groaned.

"I'm staying until she can leave." Yang said firmly.

Alyse let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Just don't destroy anything."

Yang smiled triumphantly.

"Um, Miss Alyse? You wouldn't happen to have my clothes would you?" Ruby bit her bottom lip.

Alyse nodded. "Yes, we would. They seem kind of tore up but we kept them for you. However, I have to ask you to wait to change - just until it's okay for you to leave."

Ruby sighed but agreed.

"If you need me just click the button beside your bed." Alyse bowed a little and left.

"Yang... what happened?" Ruby looked at her older sister.

"I... it was my fault." Yang looked at her feet. "I'm so sorry Ruby. It's all my fault that you're hurt like this. I was careless and I acted without thinking and I am _so_ sorry. You put your trust in me and I failed."

"Yang, what are you talking about?" Ruby's eyebrows knitted together.

Yang took a deep breath. "When I ran after that ice cream devil she practically had me going in circles and it was just pissing me off. At some point we ended up the warehouse basement or something and there were tons of pipes. She was fucking taunting me with that stupid eye thing she does! I just... I lost it! When... when I went to punch her she jumped away and I punched a pipe. I guess the pipe was important - and my flames didn't make the situation any better - because even Neo suddenly looked scared. Her eyes turned white and she started fleeing. I realized how stupid I had just been and I started to run. The first explosion was small and only hurt me a little. The second explosion was even bigger because of all the dust that was in the building. I barely made it out and that's when I realized I had no idea if you were still in there or not and I panicked. I am _so_ sorry, Ruby! I shouldn't have left without making sure you were out. I'm in charge of your safety and I messed up. I messed up big time."

Ruby's eyes softened. "Yang... it's okay. As a huntress I am perfectly aware of the risks that I have to face."

"Those risks are suppose to be criminals and grimm - not your big sister."

"Yang I-"

"No. I messed up and I take responsibility for it." Yang hung her head. "I'm glad you're okay though."

"It's okay, sis. Don't be too hard on yourself." Ruby gave a small smile. "You can make it up to me by telling me what happened with Blake and Weiss."

"I'm not sure on the exact details so if you want the specifics you'll need to ask them directly. What they told me was basically Weiss' aura was starting to get low and she fell over due to the knot on her head. Blake couldn't get through all the White Fang members right away to get to Weiss. Weiss pulled out one of her dust crystals and Blake saw what she was doing. Blake used her semblance to get to Weiss just as Weiss used one of her glyphs to make the dust explode." Yang explained.

"So, they're both okay?" _So it's my fault Weiss fell over. Oooh! She's never going to forgive me for this._

"Blake is fine - just a few cuts a bruises. Cats are known for having nine lives, though, so I wouldn't worry!" Yang grinned.

Ruby playfully rolled her eyes. "What about Weiss?"

"The Ice Queen is fine. She got hit by some the debris from the explosion she caused and somehow managed to break her arm. I think she and Blake are making up right now."

Ruby visibly relaxed. "That's good." _Everyone is alive and we're not fighting. Maybe I didn't completely fail as a leader._

"Weiss said she actually wanted to talk to you when she got the chance." Yang added.

"Eh?" Ruby squeaked.

Yang snickered a little. "I wonder what you did to the heiress this time."

"You told her it was you that caused the warehouse to explode right?!" Ruby's eyes were wide.

"Who knows what I said, crater face." Yang teased.

 **~.~.~**

 _3 Hours Later..._

Three hours had passed since Ruby had woken up. During those three hours Ruby had managed to convince Yang that she should at least get some rest in their dorm room. With Yang gone Ruby was given plenty of time to think about the events that had recently occurred.

Professor Ozpin had said there was a traitor somewhere among them in Beacon and three days had passed. Did that mean they found the traitor? Who was it? Were they from Beacon or one of the other schools? Was Ozpin in trouble for letting her team leave the school?

There was also the issue of all the Dust that was being stolen. _Why_ was it all being stolen? What could Roman possibly want with all that Dust? What was he going to do now that he had lost such a big shipment of Dust? Were the White Fang working at all the Dust companies?

And what of Roman? He had started their fight with the intention of killing her but when he was given the chance he threw it away. In fact, he did the exact opposite of kill her! He _saved_ her and _gave_ her her weapon back. He could have taken it with him when he left - he was a thief after all.

 _What is going on?_ Ruby wondered.

"Miss Rose?"

Ruby turned her head towards the door as Miss Alyse entered.

"Good, you're still awake. How are you feeling?" Miss Alyse asked with a kind smile.

Ruby smiled at the woman. "I'm just a little sore but other than that I feel fine. My head has cleared as well."

"That's good." Alyse walked over to the monitors and checked them over. "Well, it appears everything is normal so you are free to go." She walked over to a closet and grabbed a pile of clothes and laid them on Ruby's lap. "These are the clothes we found you in, but like I said before they are tore up. Your sister brought another change of clothes for you to change into, however. Once you get changed please put this brace on your ankle. Once you are dressed you are free to go. In fact, I think Professor Ozpin wanted to see you." Alyse reached around and grabbed a black brace that would keep Ruby's ankle from being moved around too much. "If you start to experience any new pain or problems, please, let us know." She bowed and then exited the room.

Ruby began to unfold her clothes to examine how much damage had actually been done to her favorite outfit. Her dressed was ripped and torn so much she wondered how it was even being held together. Her cape, thankfully, appeared to have no damage.

 _Hey... that's where Neo cut me. I wonder why the Miss Alyce didn't mention it._ Ruby moved her gown so she could examine her side. She had almost completely forgotten about it, to be honest, since there was no pain. The only thing there appeared to be was a scar. _My aura wasn't completely gone when I got it so it did heal a little then. I guess it healed the rest of the way during the three days I was out... it did leave a nasty scar though. If Yang saw it she'd definitely want Neo dead._

Ruby started to move her dress to the side when she noticed something gray fall out of it.

 _What... is this..._ Ruby picked the cloth up. It appeared to be a scarf that was stained red with blood. _This is... this is_ Roman's _scarf. Why... why do I have it?_ Her mind jumped back to when Roman had been putting some sort of pressure onto her leg after the explosion. _He... he used his scarf to stop the blood._

She brought the scarf close to her, as if it was a prized possession. It smelled of dry blood and cigars. She knew she should just throw the thing away but something was stopping her from just tossing the stupid fabric in the trash.

 _He might want it back..._

* * *

 **Salutations! This concludes The Aftermath Part I. It is a little rushed feeling to me but I really just need to get things moving. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered and, eventually, they will be.**

 **I hope no one is too OOC but I needed Yang to be a little more serious in this chapter because she feels responsible for Ruby's injuries and almost death.**

 **And what about the wound Neo gave Ruby? Well it was already healed some during the fight so these three days have given her plenty of time to have it heal over and scar so there was no need for Alyce to bring it up. Don't worry, Yang will eventually see it.**

 **Ah, and that brings me to Alyse. I got the idea for her from Thumbelina (or Tommelise). Alyse is pronounced Elise and not Alice, sorry for any confusion. Her full name is Alyse Tomm and she is one of Beacon's nurses. She won't be a major character or anything but I didn't feel right just leaving the nurse taking care of Ruby nameless.**

 **The next chapter will be focused on Roman and Neo so stay tuned. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I'd love to see if anyone has guesses about what is going to happen.**

 **Oh! And I want to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed my story! It means a lot!**


	4. The Aftermath Part II

**Salutations! Ebony reporting in with another chapter! This is the final part of The Aftermath. After this the story will continue to move forward. In this chapter we will be dealing with Roman and Neo instead of team RWBY.** **It's a little short but I'm happy with it.**

* * *

 **The Aftermath**  
 **Part II**

 _"To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist."_

~Robert Schumann

It had been three days. Three _fucking_ days.

During those three days Roman still had no idea what was wrong with him. Why had he saved that annoying little girl in red? He was given several good chances to kill the stupid girl but he oh-so carelessly let them slip away. He had never hesitated like that before.

He had no problem shooting at that stupid cat - she was a filthy faunus. Or the Ice Queen - he hated the Schnee family as much as the White Fang. Sure he'd shoot at the annoying blonde girl but Neo seemed to enjoy fighting her so he always let Neo take care of her. But Red?

Red was a thorn in his side and he'd give anything to have her taken care of. She always seemed to be messing his plans up one way or another and he was getting fed up with it. So why the _fuck_ did he decide to give her first aid? Or even protect her from the first explosion?

Was it because she was so young? Of course, even he had standards but he felt like he could make an exception for Red - she was a huntress after all. So why did he get a sick feeling in his stomach at the thought of killing her? Why did he feel like he wanted throw up when he saw her on the ground as if she had been tossed around by grimm? Why did he lie to Perry and tell him he couldn't find the stupid brat? She was right there! Perry could have taken care of her for him!

Maybe he was starting to lose his touch? No, that couldn't be it. He was only twenty-four for heavens sake! He was still in his prime! Some stupid little girl shouldn't be a problem for him. He managed to escape Ironwood - not that it was particularly hard to get away from that conceited ignoramus - and go right back to stealing. The authorities couldn't stop him so obviously a little girl should be no match for him.

Roman scowled at the target dummy in front of him and starting shooting it in the head. Next time he wouldn't hesitate. He would lift his cane and shoot Red right in her face.

"I think it's dead, Roman." a quite giggle came from behind him. The voice was soft and had a slight accent.

Roman lowered his cane and spun around on his heel. "Ah, Neo. It's always a pleasure to see you, my dear."

The pink and brown girl raised an eyebrow at him. "Did I just hear some sarcasm?" There was a smirk on her lips.

"Of course not!" Roman scoffed.

Neo rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

"Did you need something?" Roman asked.

Neo's face suddenly got very serious and she narrowed her pink and brown eyes at the narrowed at the orange-haired criminal. "You spared her life." Her voice was low.

Roman was taken back by her bluntness but he kept his features neutral. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Neo's glare became more intense and her eyes starting changing colours. "Don't lie to me. I know you could have killed that girl."

Roman frowned and turned away. "What's it matter if I didn't?" He pulled out a cigar and lit it. "Are you going to report me to Cinder?"

Neo's face broke out into a smile. "Of course not. I'm just curious as to why you didn't just shoot her in the face when you had the chance. She's been nothing but thorn in the side for you."

Roman grunted. "Why didn't you stab that busty blonde when you had the chance?"

Neo gave him a swat with her umbrella. "You know why I didn't. That woman showed up and I had no choice but to flee."

"I'm sure you had other chances at the warehouse."

"No. She punched one the pipelines and things started exploding. Not even my aura would have protected me from that had I stayed."

"It doesn't matter I guess - it's not Red's friends that are the problem anyways." Roman took a puff of his cigar. "Next time I'm going to put a bullet right through that little girl's skull."

"I see." Neo appeared to be amused by his statement. "I think you like having her around - you think it's fun don't you?" she teased.

Roman lightly whacked her with his cane. "Shut up. I can't stand the little brat." He blew out a cloud of smoke. "I could say the same about you, Neo. You seem to have fun toying with Blondie - and don't say you don't. I've seen the look on your face when you get to fight her." He smirked a little, "You better be careful, or people might start to talk."

Neo had a sickly sweet smile on her face. "I find it fun to play with my prey."

Roman rolled his eyes. "And when you play with your prey for too long it gets away."

Neo stuck out her tongue. "Just make sure you have your head in the game next time. Cinder isn't going to tolerate another failure like this."

"I know, I know. It's not going to happen again."

Neo still didn't seem convinced. In fact, it appeared as if she knew a secret that no one else did. "Your secret is safe with me." Neo bowed and then suddenly vanished.

Roman let out an annoyed huff. It sure didn't sound like she was talking about him not killing Red when he had the chance - but if that wasn't it what was she talking about?

He loved Neo - really he did - but sometimes she annoyed the hell out of him. Of course she was the only one he could truly trust. He knew Neo would never betray him - not even to Cinder. Neo was the only real friend he had ever had. Of course he had Junior but he was always nagging him about something - usually about how careless he was. He and Neo had started calling Junior "mom" just to annoy him.

His mind wandered back to Red as he took another puff from his cigar. He set his cane down and brought his hand to his neck. He felt weird without his scarf - naked almost. He wondered if Red still had it. Probably not. She probably tossed it away the first chance she got. He was going to have to get a new one.

He sighed. Cinder would have his head if she found out he let Red live. There was no way he could screw like this again. Cinder would most definitely begin to tire of his continuous failures if he didn't step up his game. He was actually surprised at how well she had handled things when she heard they had lost so much Dust. In fact, she seemed almost indifferent.

Why did she even want that much Dust anyways? They already had more Dust than they could possibly use. They had stolen so much that the Dust companies were running low on what they could sell to the public so they were slowly raising their prices. Of course, he probably wouldn't get to know the reason until the last minute because Cinder always told him "you'll know what you need when you need to know." He hated being kept in the dark but there wasn't much he could do about it.

Crossing Cinder would be a death wish.

Tch. Was there any female that wasn't a pain in his ass? Probably not.

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 **Salutations! This concludes The Aftermath! I know the chapter was a little short but the story will now be moving forward.**

 **I'm sure everyone has tons of questions still and I promise that as the story goes on they will be answered.**

 **Now onto Neo. I had her talk! OMG! I know a lot of stories have her as a mute but I decided she wasn't. At least not yet. Oops. Maybe I said too much.** **And what of this accent? I picture Neo having a soft, girly British sounding voice.**

 **Once again, I would like to give a big thanks to my friend Luna for her support. She helps keep me motivated.**

 **And I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed and added this story to their favorites/follows. Getting those emails always makes me extremely happy. And to _AkiraTKWG_ I was going to try and PM you but when I searched for your name nothing came up in the search results, so I'll reply here: I _love Peeves._ The moment I started watching RWBY I was a Rosewick shipper so I was so excited when I found Rosewick stories. _Still Dreaming_ is probably my favorite out of all of them.**

 **Please leave a review!**


	5. Higher Ups Part I

**Salutations! Ebony reporting in with another chapter once again. This will be the first part of Higher Ups so I hope you enjoy.**

 **There is one quick thing I'd like to address. I know that Weiss and Ruby are going to heal kind of fast. I haven't ever broken anything before so I've been trying to read up on other's experiences. I would also like you to keep in mind that their aura's also help heal them faster.**

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 _"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses."_

~Malcom X

 **Higher Ups**

 **Part I**

"Ozpin, you can't possibly believe that Ironwood has the correct student in custody."

"Glynda, please, sit down." Ozpin sighed softly as he watched Glynda pace back and forth.

It was three days ago that Ozpin had allowed team RWBY to leave the campus and during those three days the teams leader had been out cold. To say he felt guilty was an understatement, but Glynda had made an excellent point. The girls were truly no longer children. They were training to be huntresses and were old enough to realize the risks that their actions might entail.

That didn't make this situation any less his fault, however. He had allowed the girls to leave and doing so almost cost them their lives. Even Glynda didn't think they should be treated as children he wanted to make sure they had a chance to have fun and enjoy their lives for as long as possible. Glynda was quick to point out that even he agreed that they would have found a way to sneak out even if had tried to keep them locked in the school with everyone. There just wasn't any winning.

"I'm fine... I'm just stressed out and pacing helps." Glynda sighed, her eyes downcast.

She acted like she cared so little for the students but Ozpin was well aware that she had a soft spot for each and everyone of them. She just liked to give them tough love.

Ozpin gave her nod and sipped at his coffee. "Ironwood seemed very sure that it was Cardin who has been working with Roman."

Glynda stopped pacing and looked at Ozpin, examining his face closely. "But what do you think, professor?"

"I think Cardin is a troubled boy," he took another sip. "He is capable of quite awful acts when concerning other students."

Glynda opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Please, come in." Ozpin answered.

Alyse Tomm, the school nurse entered. "Professor Ozpin, Miss Rose has woken up."

Ozpin gave her a small smile. "Good. When she is capable, please have her come to my office."

"Yes, sir." She bowed and then quickly exited the room.

"Should I get the rest of her team?" Glynda asked.

"No, I'd like to talk to her alone." Ozpin replied.

Glynda nodded. "Very well."

 **~.~.~**

 _Three Hours Later..._

Ruby was dressed in a pair of black sweat pants and a red tank top. She had a brace on one foot and nothing on the other. She had been offered crutches to help her walk but she refused them - she wasn't hurt that bad. The cut on her leg was mostly healed so it didn't hurt to much when she walked. What she really hated was this stupid brace, but if she took it off she knew Yang would be upset at her.

Right now she was outside of Professor Ozpin's office. What should she expect when she walks in? Would he be upset? Would he be angry? Or maybe he would be disappointed?

 _Don't worry Ruby. Worrying doesn't solve anything. You're a big girl - you drink milk. You can face Professor Ozpin._ Ruby took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Ruby opened the doors and entered Ozpin's office. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Ozpin smiled at the young girl. "Don't be so afraid, dear. I merely wanted to make sure you were feeling alright - and I believe we have some things we needs to discuss. Have a seat, Ruby."

Ruby nodded and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"How are you feeling Ruby?" Ozpin placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward a little. "You weren't in the best shape when you arrived back here."

"I-I'm fine. I'm kind of sore but my aura has helped my healing a lot - along with Miss Alyse."

Ozpin nodded. "That's good to hear. Be sure to tell the one of the nurses if you begin to experience any new problems."

Ruby nodded once again. "Of course, sir." If she had to keep nodding like this she was sure to become dizzy.

"Well, now that we have that out of the how about we move onto the other business?" Ozpin leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee. "Could you explain what happened at the warehouse, Miss Rose?"

"Yes, of course, sir." Ruby took a deep breath and explained everything, including how their team argued. She left no detail out - except how Roman had saved her life and even spared her. Something told her that she should keep it to herself - that telling others would only cause trouble.

Ozpin seemed to know that Ruby was hiding something however. "Ruby," he leaned forward a little again. "Is there anything else you would like to tell me?"

Ruby froze a little. Should she tell him? Would he even believe her if she did? _No. For all you know you imagined all of it._ Another voice told her that was ridiculous. _You have the scarf to prove it was all real._ Ruby took a deep breath.

"No. That's everything that I know - I'm not really sure what happened after I passed out. I remember Yang talking to me but that's about it." Ruby met his eyes, hoping he would drop the subject.

Ozpin stared at her for a moment or two before sigh and looking away. "Very well. Feel free to talk to me should the need arise."

"Of course, professor." Ruby swallowed nervously. "What happened... with the student situation, I mean."

Ozpin smiled but it didn't seem very happy to Ruby. "General Ironwood has him custody."

"Who was it?"

Ozpin hesitated a moment before speaking. Should he tell her? There wasn't much Ruby could do if he told her so what would be the harm? "I believe you are familiar with Mr. Winchester?"

Ruby's eyes widened. " _Cardin? Cardin_ was working with R-Torchwick? There has to be a mistake." Ruby stood up from her seat. "Cardin might be a huge jerk but there is no way he would be working for Roman."

"All the evidence point's to him, I'm afraid." Ozpin took another sip of coffee. "He is the custody of General Ironwood now so there isn't anything I can do for him."

"Can't you tell them that Cardin isn't that kind of student? What kind of evidence is there anyways?" Ruby clenched her fists. Not even in her wildest dreams did she think she would be defending Cardin Winchester - faunus hater and school bully - but none of this felt right. Every instinct in Ruby was telling this was very wrong.

"The messages and calls made were traced to his scroll. General Ironwood saw that as enough proof to take him."

"W-what?" Ruby's jaw dropped. "But what if someone was using his scroll so they wouldn't get caught?"

"That is possible." Ozpin nodded in agreement. "Perhaps we can find out in the near future. If it truly wasn't Cardin then I'm sure we'll be able to track more messages. Or maybe someone will be able to prove that Cardin is innocent."

"I'll do it. I'll prove that he is innocent."

"I'm afraid I you won't be able to leave the school for a while Ruby." Ozpin looked at her with sorry eyes.

"What? Why not?"

"If you recall... the school was on lock down and you and your team managed to slip away unnoticed. Since you were all caught I must punish you or people may begin to think I'm playing favorites."

Ruby looked at her feet. She didn't want Ozpin to get in trouble. "I understand, professor. What exactly is our punishment?"

"You and your team will only be allowed to go to class, your rooms, and the cafeteria. If you go anywhere else further action will be taken."

Ruby sighed. "Yes, sir. For how long?"

"Three weeks."

Ruby groaned. This was going to be the most boring three weeks of her life.

"Is there anything else you would like to ask, Miss Rose?"

Ruby looked up at Ozpin. "Why do you think Torchwick needs so much Dust, professor?"

Ozpin took a sip of coffee. "There are some things even I don't know the answers to."

 **~.~.~**

Ruby was now in her room with the rest of her team. Yang and Blake appeared - Ruby and Weiss seemed to be the only one's who had gotten badly hurt and their aura's were speeding up the healing time.

"Um, so, Professor Ozpin said we aren't allowed to go anywhere except our dorms, classes, and the cafeteria. For three weeks." Ruby sighed.

"What? That's ridiculous! He was the one that let us go!" Yang stomped her foot.

"Yang, keep your voice down." Weiss hissed.

"He only did it because he knew we'd sneak out anyways. He could lose his job if we keep doing things we shouldn't so maybe we should just accept the punishment." Ruby nervously played with her fingers.

"Ruby's right." Blake looked over at Ruby. "And Ruby... I wanted to apologize for causing a scene at the warehouse. I realize my actions were childish and I won't let it happen again - I won't put our team at risk anymore."

Ruby gave her a small smile. "It's okay, Blake. It all worked out in the end, right."

"I guess..."

Ruby looked over at Weiss. "How are you doing, Weiss?"

"I'm fine. My arm should heal rather quickly and the nurses gave me some medicine to help with the pain in my head so that shouldn't be a problem anymore." Weiss replied.

"That's good." Ruby fell back on Weiss' bed.

"And, Ruby?" Weiss took a deep breath. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have argued with Blake at such an inappropriate time."

Ruby's face lit up and she sat back up. She carefully wrapped her arms around Blake and hugged her. "Aw! Weiss!"

"Careful, Ruby. It could be a trap!" Yang teased.

"Hey!" Weiss huffed as she pried Ruby off of her.

"I'm so glad we're friends!" Ruby squealed.

Weiss rolled her eyes and Blake smiled fondly at her fellow teammates.

"Did Ozpin tell you anything else, Rubes?" Yang asked, as she sat back down.

Ruby's smile suddenly disappeared. "Yes. General Ironwood has someone in custody."

"They found out who was working with Torchwick?" Blake was all ears now.

"They have Cardin."

The room broke out into an uncomfortable silence.

"I guess they both dislike faunus." Blake mumbled.

"But is Cardin even smart enough to be able to pull something like this off? Torchwick may be a criminal but he's not stupid. I don't think he would work with someone like Cardin." Yang scratched her head.

Weiss nodded. "I agree. Cardin was a a huge jerk but there's no way he was working with Roman. He can barely write a sentence, let alone hide the fact that he's working with one of the most wanted people in Remnant."

"What proof did they have that allowed Ironwood to take Cardin away?" Blake asked.

"Professor Ozpin said they traced messages back to Cardin's scroll, but someone else could have been using it. Right?" Ruby looked up at her team.

Blake nodded. "That's true. How are we suppose to be prove that though?"

"I... I don't know." Ruby sighed.

"This three weeks lock down isn't going to make that much easier either." Weiss said.

"I'm sure we'll figure out something!" Yang grinned. "We always do."

Blake grunted. "We've gotten lucky. A lot. We can't just keep relying on luck to help us out."

Yang playfully pushed Blake. "Don't be such a negative Nelly or I may revoke your tuna privileges."

Blake shot Yang a glare.

Yang put her hands up. "Kidding! Kidding!"

Ruby snickered.

Weiss decided to just ignore this little scene. "We should come up with a plan."

Ruby gave a firm nod. "Right. Where should we start team?"

"Well, since we can't really go anywhere for three weeks we could try to gather information when we get the chance." Blake suggested.

"How are we suppose to get information if we can't go anywhere?" Yang groaned.

Weiss was the first to answer. "Well I can try contacting my father using my scroll. He might know something."

"And I can eavesdrop during classes, in the halls, and in the cafeteria to see if any of the other students know anything." Blake's mind was wondering off to Mercury.

"I'll see if I can get Neptune to help us as well then." Yang added.

"And I'll see if Team JNPR knows anything as well." Ruby grinned.

"It seems like we have a plan." Blake smiled.

"I told you we always figure things out." Yang smirked.

 _Maybe things weren't going to be so bad after all,_ Ruby thought to herself.

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 **Salutations! This concludes Higher Ups Part I. We are now getting team JNPR and Neptune involved. I wonder what that could mean. I guess we'll have to wait and see.**

 **I once again, want to give a big thanks to Luna. I seriously wouldn't want to post anything if she didn't read over it. My writing is always riddled with mistakes. Y'all have no idea how awesome she is. However, I didn't have her read over this chapter because I knew she was busy with work, so I apologize for any mistakes I may have missed. I decided to go ahead and post it. I'll probably fix any errors she points out to me later. I did read over this chapter a couple of times and fixed what I found, though.**

 **I also want to thank my friend Krazy Psycho (just an Internet name - not a fanfiction one) for giving me her support. Me and Luna were able to get her into the fandom just recently. She's super supportive of my story and it means a lot to me. Love you, girl!**

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

 **Ebony out.**


	6. Higher Ups Part II

**Ebony reporting in with Higher Ups Part II. It is rather short but it is a needed chapter. I decided to upload this chapter a little faster since I got some more favorites and follows. You guys really should review more! You have no idea how happy a review makes me. Well, I hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

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 **Higher Ups**  
 **Part II**

 _"Sure, I can get a little bit jealous. The good part about jealousy is that it comes from passion. It's also the dangerous part and it's an ugly emotion that hurts."_

~Matthew McConaughey

"Sir, Lady Cinder demands that you go see here immediately."

Lady Cinder? Is that what the bitch had the animals calling her now?

"Of course she does." Roman mumbled, rolling his eyes. He grabbed his cane and spun on his heel so he could face the faunus that was talking to him. "Is there anything else?" he flicked his cigar at the faunus. "Or are you just standing there to waste my time?"

The faunus quickly straightened and cleared his throat. "N-no, sir." The male faunus quickly scurried away, nearly tripping over his own two feet.

Roman took one last puff of his cigar before dropping it on the ground and crushing it. Someone would clean up the mess later.

 _Now to face her majesty,_ Roman chuckled as he walked to Cinder's chambers.

Once he arrived at the door he knocked. He made it a point to always knock - he didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time he came in without knocking. His brain was scared with the image of naked Cinder and the faunus between her legs. He shuddered. He most definitely didn't want to repeat that experience.

"Enter." Cinder's calm and seductive voice entered.

Roman opened the door, quietly shutting it behind him once he had stepped in the room. "You wanted to see me?"

Cinders chambers were mostly empty. The only thing the dimly lit room contained was a king sized bed in the center with two nightstands on either side. Off to the side there was a desk but it was bare of anything.

What everyone loved about Cinder's room was her bed. It was the most extravagant piece of furniture most of the mutts would ever see in their entire life. The alabaster sheets stood out from the thick and irresistibly soft red comforter. The pillows were made of silk and had her symbol sewn on the center. There were also thick, dark red curtains that could be pulled around the bed to allow for more privacy.

"Yes, I did Roman." Cinder was sitting on the edge of her bed, legs crossed.

Roman couldn't resist rolling his eyes. He hated when she tried to act coy with him. "Shouldn't you be at Beacon? Won't people get suspicious if they never see you?"

"I have it under control, Roman. Mercury and Emerald are telling anyone who asks that I am sick and need bed rest."

"I see." Roman drummed his fingers on his cane. "Did you call me in here just for that? I really could care less what the twerps are doing at school, believe it or not. If that's all I'll just be going." He turned to leave.

"Wait." Cinder stood and slowly approached him, heels clinking on the hard wood floor. She forcefully turned him around and caressed his cheek.

Roman did his best not to cringe at her touch.

"Roman, dear, did I say you could leave?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Tch. It didn't seem you needed me any longer so I thought I would go do something productive."

"Did I say you could leave?" she asked again. There was an intense fire in her eyes that forced Roman to look away.

He cleared his throat. "No."

"I didn't think so." she removed her hand and backed away from him. "I just thought I'd make you aware of our next plans. Here I thought you'd be grateful that I was including you more."

Roman held back an annoyed growl and started to grind his teeth together. "Of course. What are your next plans?"

"It seems as though the leader of Team RWBY has awoken. Emerald has also informed me that they are under a sort of 'house arrest' for disobeying Ozpin. Ruby Rose is their leader and I believe she is the same girl always ruining your plans. I have ordered Mercury to befriend her and gain her trust - to become a love interest of sorts - and then dispose of her." A cruel smile formed on Cinders lips.

Roman's body stiffened slightly but he kept his face neutral.

She didn't seem to notice Roman's discomfort and continued, "And I decided that I would give you the honor of deciding who got to dispose of the brat."

Had Roman been drinking something he would have spewed it all over the place. Cinder was honestly planning on killing Red. Shouldn't this be a good thing, though? Shouldn't he be happy that he was finally going to get rid of that annoying thorn in his side? Why did this just make him want to throw up?

Cinder smirked and turned away from him. "Think about it. You still have time to make the decision." Before she reached her bed she turned her head to look back at him and said, "Oh, you are excused now, Roman."

Roman didn't need to be told twice - he left without hesitation. Once he was out he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and started marching straight to the training room to try and relieve some stress.

On his way there he thought about the two things that didn't settle well him. The first thing was Mercury. Why was that little twerp getting to be her love interest? He was nothing but a player! There was no way he could act genuinely interested in such an innocent girl like Ruby - no one would believe him! Perhaps that was a good thing.

The second thing bothering him was the thought of having to decide who would... _dispose_ of Ruby. Maybe killing her at the warehouse would have been a mercy kill. There was no way Cinder would just let anyone murder the poor girl without having some fun of her own. Why did he care though? It wouldn't be the first time Cinder had tortured someone. It wouldn't be the first death he was responsible for either. In fact, this should be something he was celebrating. The annoying girl in red would no longer be a problem for him. Maybe killing her would be good for him. She was obviously getting inside his head and making him question his own morals.

Killing her was going to be a good thing, he decided. He could finally move on with the plans Cinder had given him without worrying about the stupid girl showing up.

If killing her was such a good thing, though, why did he feel nauseous?

 _Tch. I need a cigar._

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 **Salutations! This concludes Higher Ups Part II. It's not the most interesting chapter and the ending is kind of eh, but it was a needed chapter. Here we can see Roman is having some conflict with his emotions and Cinder has set in motion some more plans. Does that mean we get some Mercury/Ruby moments? Guess we'll have to wait and see.**

 **Also, I know this summary says this is Rosewick and Ruby and Roman have had little interaction. Please be patient. It won't be too much longer until they have another run in. But you have to realize they are enemies. They have to work through some complicated things before they can get together.**

 **Onto reviews. I usually try to thank everyone through a PM but my inbox is cluttered right now so I'll respond here:**

 _ **Sainity Sanna:**_ It's so good to meet someone else who is Rosewick trash! Finding a good Rosewick story can be hard since it's so small. I recommend _Still Dreaming_ by _The Jashinist and Peeves_ if you haven't already read it. I also really like _Fallen Rosepetals_ by _BAYBAY841._ Both are extremely good and well written. I hope my story can live up to your expectations.

 _ **Kassie:**_ Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

 _ **cipher111996:**_ Haha, I'm glad you find it interesting and intriguing. I'm trying to keep it from being boring, though I do have to set some things up for plot reasons.


	7. Higher Ups Part III

**Salutations! Ebony reporting in with Part III of Higher Ups! I was so happy to get such quick reviews on Part II! I nearly cried! Thank you all _so_ much for your support! It means a lot! So as a reward I will publish another short chapter. The next chapter will be longer so it will be a bit longer until I update again since those take longer for me to edit. I don't really have a specific schedule for updates either since my own personal schedule is kind of crazy.**

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 _"Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power."_

~John Steinbeck

 **Higher Ups**

 **Part III**

"For the last time, Oz, I have things under control."

Ozpin let out a sigh and rubbed his temples. He wanted this conversation with General Ironwood to end more than anything. Sometimes there just was no getting through that thick skull of his.

"General, for the last time, you need to let the boy see his mother. He is still a child." Ozpin said, desperately trying to reason with the stubborn General.

"He is no longer a child, Oz. He gave that up the moment he decided to work with Torchwick." growled Ironwood.

"If you just let the poor boy have sometime with his mother I'm sure he'd be able to think clearer. I'm sure you have him scared out of his mind right now."

"He is working with a terrorist who has escaped. Whether or not he is scared is the last thing on my mind."

Ozpin's frown deepened. "Are you sure Mr. Winchester is even the correct student?"

Ironwood narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying I'm wrong."

 _Yes._ "I'm saying you're human and humans make mistakes. The only proof you have is that messages and calls to Torchwick were made from his scroll. How can you be so sure that someone else didn't use his scroll? Or that there isn't some sort of foul play at work here?" Ozpin asked calmly as he sipped his coffee.

"I've been doing this sort of things for years, Ozpin." Ironwood glared at the headmaster. "I know what I'm doing and I'm not afraid to take action when necessary."

"May I at least look at these messages that Mr. Winchester allegedly sent?" Ozpin leaned forward in his seat a little, studying the General closely.

This seemed to anger Ironwood, Ozpin noted, but he was trying to keep his anger in check. "That would be confidential information and I can't risk having it leaked out to the public."

"Oh?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I was made aware of the fact that Torchwick has been out of prison for over three weeks and, as you can see, none of that information has been leaked. I think I can be trusted with information concerning one of my students."

Ironwood stood up from his seat. "No. That is the last I want to hear of this, Ozpin." he spat.

Ozpin kept his face even as he leaned back in his chair.

"I cannot allow you to see such confidential messages." Ironwood insisted.

"What exactly is confidential about them, General?" Ozpin questioned. "Surely whatever plans were discussed are null and void now that Mr. Winchester has been taken into custody. Even if they can still be put into action surely you would want a school full of huntresses and hunters to be aware of what was happening so we could put a stop to these plans. The entire student body already knows Mr. Winchester was taken away, though they may not understand why." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "What is it that you're really hiding, Ironwood?"

Ironwood clenched his fists. "I do not have to answer to you Ozpin. I think this meeting is finished." He turned on his heel and marched out of Ozpin's office.

Ozpin let out a sigh once Ironwood was gone. He had nothing but pity for poor Cardin. He was at a loss of how to help the boy, especially since he wasn't even able to see the alleged messages he sent. If only there was someway he could prove Cardin innocent - but he wasn't even allowed to see the boy.

Ironwood had been his friend for many years - and he had come to trust him at some point. Today, however, Ozpin found himself wondering if he could continue to trust his former friend. When they were younger Ironwood had seemed so eager to uphold the law and serve out justice - it was all he had ever wanted. They had both gone down different paths but their friendship had remained intact.

Somewhere along the way, however, something in Ironwood changed and Ozpin had failed to notice it. He seemed to recall Glynda mentioning something about Ironwood's change in demeanor but he had shrugged it off - he had refused to believe his friend was anything but good. You'd think that at this point in his life he wouldn't be so naive - but having affection for someone can make one blind.

He had failed to notices the changes in Ironwood before, but he wouldn't any longer. He was responsible for these children while they were in his school and he be damned if he sat back and let someone harm them.

Ironwood was obviously afraid of him finding out the truth about those "messages" Cardin had sent, however, he didn't believe it was something as simple as that. If there was anything Ozpin had learned it was nothing was ever that simple.

If Ozpin could find what had caused the change in Ironwood's demeanor he would probably find the source of all their problems - and he doubted that it would lead him to Roman. Whatever, _whoever,_ was behind this must have something Ironwood wants.

 _Power_ , Ozpin decided. If there was one thing Ironwood enjoyed it was power. Ironwood found a thrill in flaunting his authority and power of others.

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and turned in his chair to look out the window. The students were as lively as ever and it brought a smile to his face. These kids were the future. They would bring about change to the world and it gave him pride to know that he was helping shape their bright futures. There was one team in particular he had the most pride in - and that was Team RWBY.

Team RWBY had a certain spark that not many teams had. They were young - but he knew they were going to do great things. It was just one of those things you learn to pick up on throughout the years, he supposed. It was almost like a sixth sense. Glynda was always hesitate about putting any faith in Team RWBY but even she had grown fond of them, despite their destructive nature.

"How did the meeting with, Ironwood go?"

Ozpin turned his chair around to see Glynda. "It went as expected." he grimaced.

"It was that bad?" Glynda sighed.

Ozpin gave a small nod. "I'm afraid I owe you an apology, Glynda."

Glynda looked up at him, clearly surprised by his statement. "W-what?"

"You've mentioned before how Ironwood was changing and I refused to acknowledge that you were right. I didn't want to realize he was no longer the same friend I had all those years ago." Ozpin met his eyes. "That was a mistake on my part. I am sorry I didn't take you as seriously as I should have."

Glynda was at loss of words before a small smile crept onto her lips. "Ozpin, you have always been one to want to see the best in others, especially your friends."

Ozpin returned her smile. "I suppose you're right." he sipped his coffee once more.

"What are you going to do now?" Glynda questioned.

"I think I'll give Ironwood what he wants." Ozpin said thoughtfully.

Glynda's smile quickly turned into a frown. "Sir! You cannot mean that! Why on earth would you do something so reckless?"

"Sometimes you need to make your enemy comfortable. Besides, the school will still have you here and I trust that you will keep things under control?"

Glynda seemed slightly flustered. "Of course! But... you can't seriously think that will make Ironwood back down with his attempts to gain control over the school."

"For a time I believe it will," Ozpin waved his hand in the air. "He knows the weight my name carries and the authority that I hold - and he doesn't think your name carries that same weight. With me out of the picture Beacon will no longer be a top priority because it will no longer be seen as big threat so he will assume he can take it anytime he wants. In fact, he'll probably think he already has control of the school with me gone."

Glynda stayed silent as she thought everything over.

"This will also allow me to have more room to move around freely," he added.

Glynda glared at him. "You think that's suppose to make me feel better about this?" she snapped. "You are reckless! You don't think things through and you're too stubborn!"

Ozpin gave her a soft smile. "I'll be fine Glynda."

"And what if you're not? I won't be there to watch out for you this time." Glynda growled.

To anyone who didn't know Glynda she appeared to be angry, but Ozpin could see the worry in her green eyes.

"We've been hunters for years, have some faith, Glynda."

"And you're still reckless. You put yourself on the line too much for me to be comfortable with this, Ozpin." her whip slapped his desk.

Ozpin sighed and stood up. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I promise I will come back." he whispered.

Glynda met his eyes with her own. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." he smiled.

"And I will hunt you down if I have to." she threatened.

"I know," he chuckled. "I know."

Glynda had a sad smile on her face. "I'll get everything ready for you... Ozzy." She swiftly turned around and left his office.

Ozpin watched her leave with sad eyes. He didn't want to leave but he trusted Glynda to watch out for these kids.

 _I guess I should be getting in contact with Qrow..._ Ozpin returned to his desk and pulled out his scroll.

* * *

 **Salutations! This concludes the final part of Higher Ups! I ship Ozpin and Glynda so hard, though this was a bit difficult to write. Glynda kind of reminds me of a tsundere.**

 **The next chapter will focus back on Team RWBY and the focus will tend to stay there for a while. As I said before the next chapter will be longer so it will take longer for me to type and edit. I will post it as soon as possible, though. Everyone should leave me a review in the mean time ;)**

 **I also have a total of 24 followers for this story and 16 favorites . Don't be afraid to speak up guys! I don't bite... usually. Feedback is always helpful and lets me know what I can improve or know what to keep doing. It also gives me lots of motivation, just like all the other writers on the site. I do thank you for favoriting and/or following me though. That means a lot as well.**

 **Now onto my newest reviews:**

 _ **ciper111996:**_ Haha, you're welcome! And nice I love the Star Wars reference, btw. I'm actually getting really excited about where this plot is going. It's fun to write.

 _ **Sainity Sanna:**_ I'm glad it's been able to live up to your expectations so far! That really means a lot! Hopefully you'll enjoy _Fallen Rosepetals_ as well. It's a Alpha and Omega AU. And conflicting emotions are always fun, right?

 _ **TheMAO17:**_ Haha, yes! Mercury is going to try and woo Ruby~ I don't think Mercury is her type either but Cinder seems to think Mercury can get the job done. Maybe he's a very good actor? I think Emerald would disagree though. I'm glad you're thinking about Yang and Blake, btw. Blake especially. I wasn't sure if anyone would think about how suspicious Blake already is of Mercury. Guess we'll have to see how things play out, eh?


	8. Allies Part I

**Salutations! Ebony reporting in with Part I of Allies.** **I apologize for such a long wait but I had somethings come up and one of my friends moved back to Korea so I was trying to spend time with her before she left. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the long wait. I now have a beta reader as well and you should totally check out their stories. Their username is** _ **uberparagon**_ **and they are such a huge help with editing.**

* * *

 _"People like to say that the conflict is between good and evil. The real conflict is between truth and lies."_

~Miguel Angel Ruiz

 **Allies**

 **Part I**

 _Dawn of the First Day_

 _-504 Hours Remain-_

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound of metal and plastic breaking filled the room and the bothersome beeping stopped.

Ruby groaned and slowly opened her eyes so that she could adjust to the brightness and then stretched for a good five minutes.

"Mm... Weiss? Could you hand me my leg brace?" Ruby yawned as she sat up. _I bet Yang broke the alarm clock again…_

"Yeah, sure." Weiss was already showered and dressed, which was odd for her. Usually Weiss liked to sleep in and was always the last one awake.

"What are you doing already up?" Ruby tilted her head to the side.

Weiss shrugged and handed Ruby her brace. "I just woke up kind of early and then couldn't fall back asleep." her gaze moved over to Blake's bed for just a moment.

Ruby followed her gaze and her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. On Blake's bed, Yang was sprawled out with the blankets only halfway covering her. Blake was curled up and snuggling into Yang's side like a happy kitten.

"Why is Yang in Blake's bed?" Ruby asked.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I don't know and I don't care."

"Can you help me down?"

Weiss nodded and held her arms out. Ruby slowly lowered herself down a little and Weiss held onto her sides and slowly set her down.

"Thanks!" Ruby smiled brightly.

"Humph. I'm going to breakfast." Weiss spun on her heel and headed for the door. Right before she left she turned her head and said, "And... be careful with you leg."

Ruby's face lit up. _Yes! We're becoming more like friends each day!_

Yang started to groan. "Aargh... I'm trying to sleep so keep it down." she pulled her corgi pillow over her head.

"Yang, you need to get up so we can go to breakfast." Ruby shook her head. "I'm heading to the showers." Ruby went to the closet and grabbed her school uniform and Roman's scarf (though she kept this hidden in the rest of her clothes.). She gave a final salute to her sister, even though the blonde's eyes were closed.

Just like the dorms, the showers were co-ed as well. It was a rather large area that held showers and sinks. There were concrete walls that separated each shower area and a curtain that could be pulled shut to allow privacy. The drains were built into the floor but the floors were still wet most of the time. On the other side of the room there was a long row sinks with long mirrors hanging above them.

When Ruby first heard about the shower arrangements she had been rather nervous. The light blue tile floors were always cold and every step she took seemed to echo. Not to mention how the floor near the showers were always wet. Who was to say it was just wet with water? Eck. The worst part was there were always so many people using the showers - and they weren't always wearing clothes!

She had learned to adapt though, just like any huntress would. She learned to keep her eyes down and if someone spoke to you and if they weren't clothed you maintained eye contact. When undressing you grab a towel and then go to a private corner. You remove your clothes and then quickly wrap a towel around yourself. Next you neatly put your clothes on one of the nearby benches and then get into the shower. Inside the shower there is a towel rack out of the way of the water so you didn't have to worry about the towel getting wet.

Yang never seemed bothered by all the naked people. In fact, she actually enjoyed it! Then again... Yang had no shame when it came to her body. She was hot and she knew it.

Ruby showered as fast as she could, not wanting to be in there longer than she had to be. It was rather difficult to shower with her ankle being hurt and all, but she somehow managed to get in and out without making an idiot of herself. Roman's scarf was carefully tied around her upper leg where her cut had been so that others couldn't see it. It was still covered in dried blood so she would need to wash it soon.

She thought about going back and checking on Yang and Blake once she was dressed, but the grumbling in her stomach made her decide the cafeteria sounded like a better idea.

The cafeteria was just starting to fill up with students but there was no sign of Team JNPR just yet. At Team RWBY's usual table Ruby spotted Weiss sitting by herself with a scowl on her face. Ruby saw this as the perfect time to try and bond with Weiss.

 _This is your time to shine Ruby! Just sit down and talk about what's wrong! By the end of it she'll be like "wow Ruby! You're really, really, really cool... and I'm glad you're my friend!_ Ruby did a little fist pump in the air.

Once she had her breakfast - which consisted of bacon and scrambled eggs - she sat across from Weiss.

"Hey, Weiss," Ruby said nervously. "Is everything okay?"

Weiss had been mindlessly moving her eggs around with her fork but stopped when Ruby spoke. "I'm fine." she snapped.

Ruby flinched a little. This was going to be harder than she thought. "You know you can talk to me right? We're partners after all."

Weiss shot Ruby a glare. "I don't want to talk about anything right now."

When Ruby was younger she lived by the motto WWYD (what would Yang do?) but she felt that probably wouldn't be appropriate at the moment. Yang would probably crack some joke about Weiss being on her period and Ruby was pretty sure that would not go over well.

"That's okay. How about we talk about boys then? You like Neptune, right?" Ruby thought that maybe changing the subject would help cheer her partner up.

There was a flash of sadness in Weiss' eyes and that's when it clicked. Something must have happened between her and Neptune.

"Did... did something happen between you and Neptune?"

Weiss looked up at Ruby and saw nothing but concern in the young girls eyes. She let out a sigh and slumped in her seat a little. "No... nothing happened," Weiss began. "We mutually agreed that we would stay friends."

Ruby's expression softened. "Oh, Weiss, I'm sorry. I know you were really into him." Ruby may not had a lot of experience with guys but she had helped Yang deal with rejection before - though that usually meant she had to keep Yang from breaking things.

Weiss grit her teeth together and let out a a frustrated sigh. "That's not the problem Ruby."

"Then what is it?"

Weiss took a deep breath. "You're my... partner so I'm trusting you not to tell anyone what I am about to say. Got it?"

The intensity of Weiss' stare was strong enough to make Ruby agree to do the chicken dance if that's what Weiss ordered. "Yes, ma'am!" Ruby saluted.

Weiss rolled her eyes and mumbled something about Ruby being a child. "I'm... I'm a lesbian."

Ruby's eyes widened a little bit at the confession. "Really?"

Weiss glared daggers at the girl. "Yes, really. Why would I lie about that?"

Ruby put her hands up. "I-I didn't... I just never knew... Does Neptune know?"

"Yes. It's why we both agreed that we agreed to stay friends but he offered to pretend to be my boyfriend until I was ready to come out."

"Well that was really sweet of him." Ruby smiled softly. This wasn't something new Ruby was dealing with. Yang had been with boys, girl, and faunus. Yang never identified her sexuality, though. She just said she wanted to be with whoever gave her the biggest thrill.

Weiss nodded. "Yes, it was."

"Are you worried that Blake and Yang won't like that you're a lesbian? I can promise Yang won't care! She's been with all kinds of people!"

Weiss looked at the table dejectedly. "That's... that's not it."

"Then what is it?"

"There's... there's this girl I like but I think she likes someone else." Weiss sighed, "And I haven't exactly been the nicest person around her."

"Can you tell me who it is?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes before speaking. "If you tell anyone I will make sure you regret it."

Ruby cowered back a little. "U-understood!"

Weiss looked Ruby over for a moment, as if she was making sure Ruby wasn't just going to blab to someone.

"Don't you remember when we first met? You said we could talk about cute boys! Well, instead we can talk about the cute girls you like! It's still girl talk! And Yang says girl talk is always secret!" Ruby said proudly.

Weiss grimaced a little but stayed silent for a moment. "I... I like Blake."

It took a moment for what Weiss said to register in Ruby's head, but when it did you could almost hear the "ding!"

" _Really?_ " Ruby whispered.

"Yes, now stop talking about it!" Weiss' cheeks were starting to turn a light shade of red.

"Oh! Oh!" Ruby began to bounce in her seat. "What if I help you get to spend more time with her?" she asked eagerly.

Weiss turned even redder. "Why would you do that?"

"Because you're my friend of course! It would be so romantic!" Ruby sighed dramatically. "When we all become famous huntresses you guys will have a bunch of fans that adore you! Oh! And a ship name! How about Black Ice?" she squealed.

"A ship what?" Weiss was completely lost now.

Ruby continued on as if she hadn't heard Weiss. "No... that sounds like the name of a breath mint. Oh! Monochrome!" she tapped her chin while she thought this over. "Hm, I like it! Monochrome it is!"

"What on earth are you talking about Ruby?"

Ruby looked at Weiss with excited eyes. "You know, a ship name? The name that two people get when they're in a relationship so that everyone knows they're a thing!"

Weiss looked around as if searching for what to say. "That sounds stupid."

"Humph. Lot's of people liking shipping." Ruby mumbled, puffing her cheeks out childishly.

Weiss shook her head. "You're so weird."

"My Uncle Qrow says the same thing..." Ruby tapped her chin thoughtfully.

Weiss completely ignore the comment. "Are you sure you're okay with me liking Blake?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Ruby knitted her eyebrows together in confusion.

"Because I'm pretty sure Ya-" Weiss stopped. "Never mind. It isn't important."

"Wait, what were you a-" Ruby was cut off before she could finish.

"Hey guys!" came Yang's voice.

Ruby looked up and saw her sister and Blake coming towards them.

"I think Team JNPR is here now if you want to go talk to them, Rubes." Yang smiled as she sat down beside Weiss.

Ruby quickly stood up from her seat across from Weiss. "Here, Blake! Take my seat! I'll see you guys later!" She took her tray and went to Team JNPR's table.

Over at Team JNPR's table Nora and Jaune were sitting on the ends of the table beside their respective partners.

"Oh, hey Ruby. What's up?" Jaune asked as he shoved some bacon his mouth.

Ruby sat beside Pyhrra.

"How are you feeling today, Ruby? I heard you are your team ended up in quite the mess." Pyrrha gave a sympathetic smile.

Ruby waved her hand like it was no big deal. "Pfft! I'm _fine!_ It's just a sprained ankle."

"One time I sprained my ankle." Jaune rubbed his head as he remembered the event. "Let's just say you should never insult a girl's dancing."

Nora snorted. "Sisters!"

Jaune grimaced in reply.

Pyrrha laughed quietly at Jaune and then turned her attention back to Ruby. "If you don't mind me asking is there something you needed, Ruby?"

Ruby nervously scratched the back of her head. "Actually, yes."

"Does this have to do with you sneaking out of Beacon?" Nora asked suspiciously.

Ruby nodded. "Shh! You have to keep your voice down!"

Nora saluted Ruby. "Yes, sir!"

Ren rubbed his temples. Why did Nora have to be such a morning person?

"It must be serious. How about we go talk about this in the library where there are fewer people?" Jaune suggested.

Ruby shook her head. "I can't go there. Team RWBY is under official dorm arrest." she slumped in her seat.

"Oh! I know! We could release an army of beowolves to distract the headmaster and then we take Ruby and hide her in the library so she can talk!" Nora did a fist pump in the air.

"Nora..." Ren sighed.

"I don't think anyone is really paying attention to us. We just need to keep out voices low. Like spies!" Ruby grinned.

"How exciting! We get to be spies Ren!" Nora exclaimed.

"Spies keep quiet, Nora." Ren ran a hand through his hair. He just wanted to get some more sleep. "Please continue, Ruby."

"Right. So you guys know how Cardin is no longer in school?"

They all nodded.

"Do we need to break his legs?" Nora asked with excited eyes.

"Uh, no." Ruby shook her head. "General Ironwood has taken him away for conspiring with Torchwick."

"Isn't Torchwick in prison?" Jaune asked.

"Nope." Ruby answered with a pop. "He escaped over three weeks ago but this has been kept secret."

Pyrrha's expression turned grim. "They locked down the school because they found out someone was working with Torchwick, didn't they?"

"Yes and Ironwood apparently found messages on Cardin's scroll so he was taken away." Ruby explained.

"Can't Professor Ozpin just get him out?" Nora tilted her head to the side.

"Nora, I don't think it's that simple." Pyrrha answered softly.

"Then does that mean he's guilty?" Nora's eyebrows knitted together.

Jaune was the one to answer surprisingly. "No. There's no way Cardin would do something like that. Cardin is a huge jerk that likes to make other people do things for him. There's no way Cardin would do someone else's work." he shook his head. "Someone else set him up."

Everyone except Ruby looked at him in surprise. None of them thought Jaune would be the first one out of all of them to stick up for Cardin - not after everything he had been put through by Cardin. Ruby had expected nothing less from Jaune, however. Jaune, like her, was a leader. Leaders have good instincts and don't let their feelings get in the way of what they knew was wrong.

Jaune turned to Ruby. "You want to prove Cardin innocent, right?"

Ruby gave a firm nod. "Yes."

"Just tell us what we can do to help and we'll do it."

"Well..." Ruby played with the ends of her hair. "I don't actually know where to start. All I know is that large amounts of Dust are being stolen all over Remnant. We actually went to an old warehouse that was going to receive a large shipment of Dust. Almost everyone who appeared to be a worker was actually working for the White Fang and we ran into Roman there as well."

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense. If the workers were White Fang why did they bother unloading the Dust at all? Why didn't they just kill the drivers delivering it and take off with it?" Jaune scratched his head.

"How about you start from the beginning?" Ren suggested. "Just tell us everything that happened."

"Oooh! I love stories!" Nora gigged.

Ruby took a deep breath and retold her tale to Team JNPR. She included as much detail as she could remember, leaving out how Roman had saved her life of course. She wasn't sure how well that would go over with Team JNPR. When she finished her tale it appeared as if each member was mulling over what they had just been told.

"Why would anyone need so much Dust?" Pyrrha asked, mostly talking to herself.

"Hm... maybe they didn't really need it?" Nora said thoughtfully.

"That... that would actually make sense." Jaune said. You could practically see the light bulb that went off in his head.

"What are you thinking, Jaune?" Pyrrha smiled at her leader.

"Well, a lot of people depend on Dust. It's used to power weapons and machines, such as airships. By making the demand higher than what is available it would leave us weak, wouldn't it? So maybe whoever is behind this doesn't really need all that Dust but are really just trying to weaken us for whatever reason." Jaune ran a hand through his hair.

Ren grimaced. "That means this might be worse than we originally thought."

"How is this suppose to help free Cardin?" Nora pouted.

"It gives us a starting ground of where we can search for information." Pyrrha explained.

"Okay but if Cardin wasn't the real traitor doesn't that mean the real one is still somewhere in the school?" Nora asked. "Maybe we should interrogate the entire school! We'll hold everyone hostage!" she laughed maniacally.

Ren sighed once more.

"Maybe there never really was a traitor?" Ruby suggested.

"That's possible." Pyrrha agreed. "But we should keep our guard up."

Jaune nodded. "Right. I'm guessing your Team is going to be doing what they can from Beacon?"

"Yup! Weiss will be contacting her dad, Blake will be spying in classes and in the halls, and Yang is getting Neptune who will probably get Sun. And I'm getting you guys! We're gonna be the youngest detectives ever!" Ruby said proudly.

"Hm... Ren, Nora. You two should go to the streets and find out what you can. Pyrrha and I will see what we can find out here in Beacon."

Ren nodded.

Nora was grinning from ear to ear."Woopie! We get to go down dark allies and fight mob bosses! Do you think we'll get to meet a godfather?"

"Nora, I don't think mob bosses and godfathers just walk around dark alleyways." Ren replied.

"That's exactly what they want you to think!" Nora smirked.

"Thanks guys." Ruby smiled.

"What are friends for?" Jaune smiled in return.

 **~.~.~**

School seemed to just drag on longer and longer as the hours went by. Ugh. Why did he have to be a part of this stupid mission with Cinder? Not only did he have to attend school he had to act like he genuinely liked all of these people. Emerald was a lot better at that than him. She had the big round eyes and the innocent smile that warmed people's hearts.

Why couldn't Ruby be into girls? Then Emerald would have to seduce her instead of him. Now he had to act like some lovestruck fool and figure out how to get close to her. She had so many people protecting her it made him want to punch something. The biggest threats were Blake and Yang. Blake made her hate for him obvious and he wasn't sure how Yang would feel about him having a "crush" on her little sister. Yang seemed to like him, at least.

Mercury shook his head. It was now lunch time and he and Emerald were sitting alone at a table together. Not to far away he could see Blake watching them, not that he let on that he knew she was there.

"So, do you have a plan yet?" Emerald kept her voice low.

"Sorta." Mercury shrugged and leaned back in his seat. "The cat is watching us." he smirked.

Emerald grimaced. "You should work on getting her to like you, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." he sighed.

"Mercury, you need to take this more seriously." Emerald glared.

"I am, Em. Just relax, okay? My goal is to get close to Ruby, not the cat. Try not to be too jealous of Ruby." Mercury shot Emerald a wink and stood up.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to head to the bathroom." he said, slightly louder than usual.

"Mercury what are you do-" Emerald was cut off by Mercury.

"Hey, Em, you should come with me. I wanted to show you something in our room before class starts."

Emerald looked at him in confusion but got up and followed him anyways.

Just as they passed Team RWBY's table Ruby was getting up with her plate in her hands. Mercury turned his head to Emerald, acting as if he didn't notice there was someone in his way as he walked.

"I'm gonna show you something really cool, Em. You'll love it." Mercury said with an almost devious grin.

Just as he turned his head back in front of him he ran smack into Ruby. Ruby's plate of leftovers spilled onto her and the floor.

"Mercury!" Emerald hissed. "Watch where you are going you idiot!"

"A-ah, not it's okay!" Ruby smiled. "It was just an accident."

"Ruby are you okay?" Yang got up and moved to her sister's side.

"I'm fine, Yang. It's just some food." Ruby waved her hand.

"But you could have been hurt and you're already all broken." Yang pouted.

"Yang!" Ruby stopped her good foot and puffed out her cheeks. "I'm not broken! My ankle is just sprained and it's healing really fast!"

Mercury watched the sisters interact very carefully. It appeared as if Ruby didn't really like being treated as a child and liked to to be independent. Hm... interesting.

"It was my fault." Mercury interjected. "I should have watched where I was going." He bent down and picked up the plate Ruby had dropped. "I'll take care of this for you and as an apology how about I let you hang out with me." he winked.

Ruby stared at him with a look of confusion and Emerald elbowed him in the gut.

" _Ow!_ " Mercury hissed.

"Stop being a creep." Emerald glared and then turned to Ruby. "I'm sorry about that. Mercury just doesn't know when he should hold his tongue."

Ruby's face lit up. "That's okay! I think hanging out would be fun but it'd have to be in our dorm since we got in trouble." she scratched the back of her head.

"That sounds great." Mercury said dryly.

Emerald glared at Mercury and elbowed him again. "Drop the cool guy act you idiot."

Yang's gaze went to Mercury and she carefully looked him up and down. "Hey, Ruby, how about you have Emerald and Weiss take you to the room to get cleaned up."

"Yang, I can clean myself up!" Ruby whined.

"You can show Emerald the cool bunk beds we made!" Yang grinned.

Weiss looked over at Yang and Mercury and seemed to pick up on Yang's hint that she wanted them to leave.

"I wanted to floss before class started anyways." Weiss added.

"See! So just go with Emerald and Weiss." Yang looked over at Emerald. "That's okay with you right?"

Emerald hesitated before answering. She wasn't sure she should actually leave Mercury alone. "Yeah, I'd love to see the bunk beds."

Ruby started grinning again. "Really? I think they're really cool."

"C'mon, Ruby." Weiss shook her head and started dragging Ruby away, Emerald following behind them.

Once they were gone Mercury turned to Yang. "Let me guess, I'm getting the 'don't touch my sister' talk?"

"No. You're getting the 'hurt my sister and you'll regret it' talk." Yang's usually happy demeanor had become serious.

Mercury kept his usually cocky smile. "What do you think my intentions are?"

"How about you tell me?" Yang glared.

"I thought we were friends, Yang." he laughed.

"It doesn't matter if we're friends or not. You're pinning after my little sister aren't you?" Yang was clearly not amused by his cool guy act.

"Was it that obvious?" Mercury sighed, defeated. He let his shoulders slump a little. "Ruby is just unlike anyone I have ever met."

Yang relaxed a little and her smile started to come back. "You really are crushing on her aren't you?"

Mercury looked away as if he was embarrassed.

"You kind of remind me of Neptune..." Yang said thoughtfully.

"We're both super cool?" Mercury said confidently.

"You both _think_ you're super cool."

"You wound me." Mercury feigned hurt.

Yang laughed. "You seem pretty alright. Ruby really needs some new friends and I think she would appreciate having you and Emerald around." she decided. "Ruby has never dated before and I don't think she's even had a crush before. Her mind is always focused on becoming a huntresses and helping others. When she got accepted into Beacon I told her she should try to branch out more. You have my permission to try and be friends with Ruby and if she decides she wants a relationship with you that's okay." She took a deep breath and looked Mercury straight in the eye. "Just know that I'll be watching so if you step out of line or hurt her even a little I'll know. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." he gave her a two finger salute.

 **~.~.~**

Ruby was trying her best to keep a normal pace so that Emerald and Weiss didn't have to slow down for her but her brace was making that extremely difficult.

"Ruby, you don't have to try to walk so fast." Weiss sighed. "You're going to hurt yourself even more."

"I'm fine, Weiss." Ruby waved her hand.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you guys in the dorm." she turned on her heel and went the other direction.

When Emerald and Ruby reached the dorm room Ruby opened it and held her arms out when she entered.

"Welcome to our dorm!" Ruby grinned.

"Your bunk beds are really cool." Emerald smiled. _And extremely dangerous looking…_

"I'm going to change into my spare school uniform real quick." Ruby said as she got the outfit out of the closet. "Um, would you mind turning around?"

Emerald gave a soft smile and turned around. A few moments later she was given the okay to turn back around again. As she turned around Ruby fell back on Weiss' bed, giving Emerald a split second to see up Ruby's skirt. In that split second she caught a glimpse of a familiar grey cloth wrapped around her leg.

"Is your thigh hurt, too?"

Ruby sat up and looked at Emerald in confusion. "Huh?"

"I just happened to catch a glimpse of some kind of cloth wrapped around your upper leg is all. Are you alright?" Emerald sat down beside her.

Ruby's face started to turn bright red when she realized what Emerald saw. "Oh... that? I-It's nothing!" she said quickly.

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"Yup!" she said with a pop. "It's nothing!"

Emerald smirked a little. "Is it something a boy gave you?"

Ruby's face turned even redder and Emerald's suspicions were confirmed.

"I won't tell anyone but is it okay if I see it?"

Ruby bit her lip as she thought about it. There's no way Emerald would realize who it belonged to right? "Okay... just don't tell anyone." Ruby moved her skirt up a little bit and untied the grey fabric from around her leg and held it up for Emerald to see.

It was covered in dried blood but Emerald would recognize that scarf anywhere. It was Roman's. That at least explained why he hadn't been wearing it recently.

"Why is it covered in blood?"

"That's kind of a long story... and I haven't really had a chance to wash it yet without risking someone else seeing it."

"Well how about I wash it for you?" Emerald suggested.

Ruby's face lit up. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not!" Emerald said with a sickly sweet smile. "I'll just drop it off on my dorm on the way to my next class."

"Thanks!" Ruby handed the grey scarf over to Emerald.

"No problem."

Oh she was going to love rubbing Roman's nose in this.

 **~.~.~**

Blake couldn't believe what she was hearing from Yang. Why on earth was she allowing that creep anywhere near Ruby?! Blake was positive he was up to something bad but she just didn't know what that something was. Why couldn't everyone just listen to her when she said he gave her a bad vibe?

It didn't really matter she supposed. If the others didn't want to believe her she would just have to find proof to make them believe her. Hopefully she could do that before anyone got hurt. Maybe having him hang around the team more would be beneficial. She would be able to hang around him more and have a chance to figure out his real motives behind wanting to get close to Ruby.

However, she thought Yang of all people would be the one to take her suspicions seriously. Or maybe she was just trying to trick herself into thinking that because she had a crush on Yang. She thought for sure they had connected last night when they both fell asleep talking to each other, but Yang didn't seem to feel the same.

Blake shook her head. She didn't need to be thinking about silly crushes.

Her mind wondered to Emerald. Emerald didn't seem to give off any sort of bad vibe and she didn't appear as if she meant anyone harm. However, she did hang around Mercury a lot. They were on the same team so maybe they were just stuck as partners.

Blake decided to keep an eye on Emerald as well, though Mercury was still the bigger threat.

Mercury may have Yang and Ruby fooled but Blake had been around enough degenerates, as Weiss would put it, to know when someone was up to no good, and she was not going to just sit around and let him get away with whatever he had planned. Especially if those plans involved Ruby.

Blake cared about the young huntress in training. She was a spark of hope and was full of ambition. She found herself thinking of Ruby as her own little sister and she wasn't going to let anyone hurt her.

* * *

 **Salutations! This concludes Part I of Allies. It's safe to say a lot has happened in this chapter. In case you skipped over my first authors note, I now have a beta reader. _uberparagon_ you are a huge help so I'd like to thank you one more time!**

 **There were somethings in this chapter (like Blake and Yang waking up in the same bed) that were not elaborated on, but I promise I'm getting to that. There were a lot of things I wanted to fit in this chapter but I had to remove some of it so it didn't drag on. I found better spots for the scenes I took out and will be placing them somewhere else.**

 **Be sure to leave me a review on your thoughts and/or questions you have. I'm curious to see if anyone caught any of my little hints on future events. Or maybe you think you know what Blake and Yang talked about? Really anything you have a comment on would be a wonderful review. I love hearing what my readers think.**

 **Now time to reply to reviews!**

 _ **Sainity Sanna:**_ Haha I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I always love reading your reviews. Eventually, we will get to learn more of what Cardin is going through. Let's all hope he is okay. Ironwood is being a bit difficult isn't he? I'm glad you liked my Glynda/Ozpin fluff. And so far Mercury seems to be having some pretty good luck.

 _ **AkuraTKWG:**_ You sound like you have your hands full! There's no need to apologize! I completely understand what it's like to be busy, trust me. I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far!

 _ **YmaSumac:**_ I am so glad you like all the different points of views! I was hoping to bring in something kind of unique that helps people understand kind of what is going on with all the other characters and what exactly they are thinking. I thought it might help people understand the reasons the characters do certain things or act certain ways. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

 _ **Uberparagon:**_ Thank you so much! I hope I can live up to your expectations!

 _ **Guest:**_ I'm glad you like it! And yeah... Ozzy was a little cringe worthy. It was more of a test kind of thing to see how it felt. It felt kind of awkward and out of place to me so I probably won't use it again.

 _ **Hans Gross:**_ Ah! So you are already thinking about Roman and Ozpin! I don't want to give too much away but it's good you're thinking about them.


	9. Update: Not A Chapter

**Salutations! Kohai reporting in with an update for Saved by the wolf!**

As many of you may know RWBY volume 3 is out and there many new episodes and developments that have been made in our beloved world. I am enjoying every minute of volume 3 and love all the new things that we are learning.

However, all this new information means I must adjust my story a bit before I can update. I want to keep my information as close to the show as possible to avoid confusion. So I will be making so minor adjustments to some of my chapters.

I apologize for the delay in updating and am sorry for getting anyone's hopes up in making them think this was an actual chapter. I also want to apologize for not giving an update on what was going on. My laptop broke and I just got a new computer for Christmas. Unfortunately, I cannot get my laptop to turn on so I will have to work on recovering my documents as well.

Worry not, though. This story will not remain incomplete. This story has gotten more reviews than any of my stories (it has 33 which is a big accomplishment for me). And 54 of you have it on your favorites and 69 of you have it on your alerts. That just blows my mind. I want to thank each and everyone of you for your support.

I have also reached 7k+ views. Thank you everyone! Remember don't be afraid to review! I don't bite~

Well I think that sums everything up. Please be patient with me. I promise I am working on this story still. Oh, and yes I did change my name in case anyone was wondering.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and happy new year!

 **Kohai reporting out.**


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